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.