Class attitudes or class' attitudes ?? (School class)

Question

I thought my use of the apostrophe was ok however I am mulling over which of the two is correct: i) class attitudes; or ii) class' attitudes.

The context is a school class.

The sentence is:

I wish to understand the overall class’ attitudes towards reading.

I'm sure it has to be with an apostrophe, but it just looks strange!

Clive · Accepted Answer

Hi,

I thought my use of the apostrophe was ok however I am mulling over which of the two is correct: i) class attitudes; or ii) class's attitudes.

The context is a school class.

The sentence is:

I wish to understand the overall class’s attitudes towards reading.

I'm sure it has to be with an apostrophe, but it just looks strange!

You can say either class attitudes or class's attitudes.

If you want to use the apostrophe, say it as I've corrected it in red.

'Attitudes' suggests that the class has more than one attitude. Is that what you mean?

The word 'overall' suggests to me that the class has one main attitude.

It's also rather unclear whether you want 'overall' to apply to 'class' or to 'attitudes'.

You could clarify that by rewording,

eg I wish to understand the overall attitudes of the class towards reading.

eg I wish to understand the attitudes of the overall class towards reading.

But really, do you need the word 'overall'?

Best wishes, Clive

Best wishes, Clive

Class attitudes or class' attitudes ?? (School class)

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