In general, to form a possessive, follow these guidelines.
For singular nouns, including those that end in s , add 's to the end of the word.
Recommended : Modify each vector's record.
Recommended : Raise the storage class's quota.
For plural nouns that end in s , add only an apostrophe to the end of the word.
Recommended : Extend the models' capabilities.
Not recommended : Extend the models's capabilities.
For plural nouns that don't end in s , add 's to the end of the word.
If a possessive seems awkward, rewrite the sentence to omit the possessive.
Recommended : Analyze the business data.
Not recommended : Analyze the businesses' data.
Recommended : The rule that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued.
Not recommended : The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC's) rule.
Product, feature, and company names
When describing function or performance, don't form a possessive from a feature name, product name, or trademark, regardless of who owns it. Instead, use the name as a modifier or rewrite to use a word like of to indicate the relationship.
Recommended : You can use this template to monitor Google Search performance.
Recommended : You can use this template to monitor the performance of Google Search.
Not recommended : You can use this template to monitor Google Search's performance.
To form the possessive of a company name, add 's to the end of the name. Don't form the possessive of a company name when using it as a trademark.
Recommended : Google's new office is nearby.
Not recommended : The capabilities of Google's Search are vast.
For information about using trademarks as adjectives, not nouns, see Trademarks .Code items
Don't form the possessive of a code item. Instead, form the possessive from the noun that follows the code item or rewrite to avoid the possessive form.
Recommended
: Compare the number to the wordCount
method's return value.
Recommended
: Compare the number to the
value returned by the wordCount
method.
Not recommended
: Compare the number to wordCount
's return value.
For more information, see Grammatical treatment of code elements .
