Does Ours Need an Apostrophe?

Does Ours Need an Apostrophe?

Ours should never have an apostrophe. Ours vs Our’s Ours is the first person plural possessive pronoun – it replaces “our” + noun. He can’t find his keys, but ours are on the table. Though you may see our’s written even by native speakers, it is incorrect.

Which is correct ours or our’s?

The idea that ours needs an apostrophe comes out of the fact that on virtually every other word, ‘s indicates possession, so English speakers sometimes think ours should be spelled our’s. However, this is always incorrect – ours is the only correct spelling.

Is Ours plural?

Ours is a possessive pronoun, being a possessive form of we. It can refer to a singular or plural noun, and it can be the subject, object, or complement of a verb or the object of a preposition: China’s economy is very different from ours. Their chairs may have cost more, but ours are more comfortable.

You do not need an apostrophe to indicate possession because yours itself is a possessive pronoun. In this sense, yours is similar to other possessive pronouns like its, whose, and ours. None of these words requires an apostrophe since they are already possessive.

Elena Rostova
Author

Elena Rostova

Elena Rostova holds a Master's degree in Public Health Journalism. She covers groundbreaking medical research, holistic wellness trends, mental health awareness, and nutritional science.