Places and Businesses: Dropped Noun
Use possessive 's to refer to workplaces, shops, and homes when the place noun is understood from context: at the dentist's, at my parents', from the pharmacist's — 8 exercises.
Possessive 's with Places and Businesses: The Dropped Noun
English has a well-established pattern of using possessive 's to refer to a place associated with a person or service, while omitting the noun that names the type of place. This ellipsis is not informal slang — it is grammatically standard and appears consistently in British English across formal and informal registers. Corpus data from the British National Corpus shows that this pattern is near-universal in spoken British English for healthcare providers, service businesses, and domestic locations. Learners who omit the apostrophe are understood to refer to the person rather than their premises, which can create confusion in context.
Healthcare and Service Providers
She left her bag at the hairdresser's. (= the hairdresser's salon)
I'll pick it up from the pharmacist's. (= the pharmacist's shop)
My appointment at the doctor's is at three. (= the doctor's surgery)
People's Homes
I left my jacket at my friend's. (= my friend's house)
We stayed at my grandmother's for the weekend. (= my grandmother's house)
Place Names with 's
Many established British place names retain the possessive 's as part of the name. The 's is part of the official name and cannot be dropped: St James's Park, St Paul's Cathedral, King's College. Names ending in -s still add 's in standard British English usage.
Common Mistakes
✗ We stayed at my grandmother for the weekend. → ✓ We stayed at my grandmother's.
✗ The dentist is closed on Sundays. → ✓ The dentist's is closed on Sundays. (referring to the place, not the person)