Using the possessive for entities

Question

Hi. I think I saw in one of the posts in this forum that we use the possessive in a case like "teachers' association" because the teachers own it. Now, what I am puzzled about is what critera we (?) use to deternine ownership.

In a sentence like "He joined a teachers' association," could we say the possessive is used since the teachers own the entity? If the answer is yes, then why do you use the term "children's center"? Do the children own the center? I don't think so. Any help from you will be appreciated. Thank you for your help in advance.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

"Ownership" is not strictly necessary for possessive tense. It is sometimes invoked without clear possession if there is a clear link between the object being described, and a group.

This is common when referring to groups that have nonstandard pluralization, like "children." Children's center is a correct phrase. Have you ever heard of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Jude_Children%27s_Research_Hospital? Likewise, workingmen's association (even if it is not owned by the workingmen). "Children" and "workingmen" refer to groups that are already pluralized and it is extremely rare to see them written as "children center" or "workingmen association." Possessive is commonly used here.

Where there is a group which represents individuals (e.g. worker) that have standard pluralization (workers), there is more variation. For example, there is an http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Workers%27_Union and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Manufacturing_Workers_Union. Note in the first case possessive is used, but not in the second. However, both are correct in usage.

Using the possessive for entities

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