Lesson Content

සැ

What is the Possessive Case?

The possessive case shows ownership or possession of something. In English, we usually form the possessive case by adding an apostrophe and 's' ('s) to nouns.

Example:

This is Sam's book. (සැම්ගේ පොත)

The children's toys are in the box. (ළමයින්ගේ සෙල්ලම් බඩු පෙට්ටියේ තියනවා )

Rules for Forming the Possessive Case

1. For singular nouns:

Add 's to the singular noun.

Examples:

the girl's doll (කෙල්ලගේ බොනික්කා )

James's car (ජේම්ස්ගේ මෝටර් රථය)

2. For plural nouns ending in s:

Add only an apostrophe after the s.

Examples:

the students' books (සිසුවන්ගේ පොත්)

the dogs' leashes (බල්ලන්ගේ දාම්වැල )

3. For plural nouns not ending in s:

Add 's to the plural form.

Examples:

the children's toys (ළමයින්ගේ සෙල්ලම් බඩු )

the men's shoes (පිරිමින්ගේ සපත්තු)

4. For joint possession:

When two or more people own something together, add 's only to the last noun.

Example:

Sam and Emma's house (සැම් සහ එමාගේ ගෙදර)

5. For separate possession:

When two or more people own things separately, add 's to each noun.

Example:

Sam's and Emma's cars (සැම්ගේ සහ එමාගේ මෝටර් රථ)

Resources

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Quick Reference

Singular:

boy → boy's

woman → woman's

Plural:

boys → boys'

women → women's

Irregular:

child → child's

children → children's