In this chapter, you learned the importance of using a dictionary for spellings of compound nouns. Sometimes compound nouns change in form as their use becomes more prevalent. To be consistent, you may find it helpful to include some of the more frequently used compound nouns on your troublesome word list.

You also learned about the cases of nouns. Anoun acting as a subject in a sentence, as an appositive, or as a subject complement is in the nominative case. A noun acting as a direct object, indirect object, or as an object of a preposition or infinitive is in the objective case.

In this chapter, the emphasis is on the possessive case of nouns. The possessive case noun shows ownership, or it shows a relationship between two nouns. An apostrophe and s ('s) or an apostrophe (') indicates a possessive noun. Always look for the person who possesses the item. This possessor (a noun) receives the apostrophe; the number of items owned does not determine the location of the apostrophe. Plural nouns ending in s should not be confused with the possessive forms of nouns.

In addition to studying the rules for forming the possessives of singular, plural, and irregular nouns, you also learned how to show separate and joint ownership and how to form possessives of compound nouns. An understanding of the possessive case is important in writing clearly and correctly.