-'s
English · Thesaurus
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
-'s¹
- /s/
- /ɪz/ UK
- /ɪz/ US
- /əz/ US
- /əz/ Australia
- /z/
Sounds like -s
Where it comes from
From Middle English -s, -es, from Old English -es (“-'s”, masculine and neuter genitive singular ending), from Proto-Germanic *-as, *-is (masculine and neuter genitive singular ending). The apostrophe was added under the false belief that it was a contraction of English his, and retained to distinguish it from the plural. Cognate with Dutch -s, -es (“-'s”), German -s, -es (“-'s”), Danish -s, -es (“-'s”), Swedish -s (“-'s”), Norwegian -s (“-'s”), Icelandic -s (“-'s”).
suffix -’s · -s · -s-
- A possessive marker, indicating that an object belongs to the noun or noun phrase bearing the marker. Jane's house is bigger than Sarah's.
- In the absence of a specified object, used to indicate “the house/place/establishment of”. We'll arrive at Jose and María's in time for dinner.
- Indicates a purpose or a user. You need a driver's license.
- Used to indicate a quantity of something, especially of time. I took three weeks' holiday.
- Used to indicate various other kinds of relationship, such as source or origin, object of an action, subject depicted, etc. She got angry at my niece's trying to lie to us.
- Attached to a noun or noun phrase linked to a genitive of, forming a double genitive (Compare of mine, etc.) a friend of Sarah's
Similar: of
-'s²
- /s/
- /ɪz/ UK
- /ɪz/ US
- /əz/ US
- /əz/ Australia
- /z/
Sounds like -s
Where it comes from
Equivalent to -s, with addition of apostrophe.
suffix -’s · -s · -s-
- Used to form the plurals of numerals, letters, some abbreviations and some nouns, usually because the omission of an apostrophe would make the meaning unclear or ambiguous. There are four 3’s in my phone number.
- Used to form plurals of foreign words, to clarify pronunciation, such as “banana’s” or “pasta’s”. index’s
- Used to form the plural of nouns that correctly take just an "s" in the plural. See greengrocer’s apostrophe. Apple’s 50p a pound
-'s³
suffix
- Alternative form of -'s
Thesaurus
suffix
Similar: of
Translations
Talk about this word "-'s." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/-'s. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. -'s. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/-'s "-'s." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/-'s.Cite this
@misc{s_2026,
title = {-'s},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/-'s},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
