Study English Grammar

The difficulty over the apostrophe starts when we move on to plural nouns. The problem arises from thinking that the apostrophe has something to do with making words plural. It does not. To repeat the point we made earlier: adding’s has nothing to do with making words plural.

We usually make nouns plural by adding s; so, for example, cat becomes cats; student becomes students. There are, though, some words which make their plurals differently: the plural of child is children; leaf becomes leaves; kiss becomes kisses; mouse becomes mice. Most nouns, however, form plurals simply by adding s to the singular.

Where students usually get in a muddle – if this applies to you, read slowly at this point – is with the apostrophe when there is a plural noun. There is, though, no need for confusion. The basic rule is that you adds to form a possessive. Thus:

The children’s party had to be cancelled.

This means that the party of the children had to be cancelled: the plural noun is children. With this example we can compare the following, all adding’s: George’s essay, France’s... Read more...