0
Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Hyphens

Hi I hope you can help us. My daughter has to write sentences useing plural words and as a mother I have lost touch with the correct usage. An example is.....

1.boys

2.boy's

3.boys'

I can't for the life of me remember what the diff can be. Could you help?

Thankyou

Susan
  

Top answer

boys is the ordinary plural: One boy Two boys boy's is the possessive singular: The boy's bedroom = The bedroom belonging to the boy boy's can also be short for "boy is" or "boy has": The boy's a genius = The boy is a genius The boy's run away = The boy has run away boys' is the possessive plural: The boys' bedrooms = The bedrooms belonging to the boys (plural) It's similar for other nouns, but there are some special rules, for example if the noun itself ends with an "s" (or certain other characters). There is a detailed explanation at I don't understand what this has to do with hyphens (your subject line). Perhaps you got mixed up: the character ' in boy's and boys' is called an apostrophe.

— Mr Wordy

  • boys is the ordinary plural: One boy Two boys boy's is the possessive singular: The boy's bedroom = The bedroom belonging to the boy boy's can also be short for "boy is" or "boy has": The boy's a genius = The boy is a genius The boy's run away = The boy has run away boys' is the possessive plural: The boys' bedrooms = The bedrooms belonging to the boys (plural) It's similar for other nouns, but there are some special rules, for example if the noun itself ends with an "s" (or certain other characters).
  • There is a detailed explanation at I don't understand what this has to do with hyphens (your subject line).
  • Perhaps you got mixed up: the character ' in boy's and boys' is called an apostrophe.
  • A hyphen is a short dash.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

2 Answers
0
boys is the ordinary plural:

One boy

Two boys

boy's is the possessive singular:

The boy's bedroom = The bedroom belonging to the boy

boy's can also be short for "boy is" or "boy has":

The boy's a genius = The boy is a genius

The boy's run away = The boy has
0
0
Hi,

The first one is a common plural: two boys

The second one is not plural, the "'s" implies possession: the boy's car=the car of the boy

Number three is a mix of one and two: it is a plural which implies possession. The boys' car=the car of the boys.

I hope I was helpful

Sylvain
0

Related Questions