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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar

Where to put apostrophe for possessive?

Is it the girls' books were heavy?

Is it the childrens' lives or life?

Can someone give me the general rule on where and when to put the apostrophe and some examples?

Thank you very much.
  

Top answer

Anonymous Is it the girls' books were heavy? The apostrophe placement changes depending on the meaning of the sentence. " Anonymous Is it the childrens' lives or life?

— BAnholzer

  • Anonymous Is it the girls' books were heavy?
  • The apostrophe placement changes depending on the meaning of the sentence.
  • " Anonymous Is it the childrens' lives or life?
  • It should be: the children's lives.
  • Generally, to make a possessive, add an apostrophe and an S, (girl to girl's; children to children's; John to John's; cousin to cousin's) or if the word already ends in an S (often when it is plural), just add an apostrophe (Chris to Chris'; musicians to musicians'; cousins to cousins').
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5 Answers
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AnonymousIs it the girls' books were heavy?
The apostrophe placement changes depending on the meaning of the sentence. If it is one girl, it would be "The girl's books were heavy." If there are multiple girls with heavy books, the original sentence is correct: "The girls' books were heavy."
AnonymousIs it the childrens' lives or life?
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But isn't children plural? Why is it not childrens' lives?
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'Children' is indeed the plural. Therefore, no plural '-s'. But the possessive '-'s' is required: 'children's lives'.
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Would it be ...


my cousins' Chris and Trevor or


my cousin's Chris and Trevor?


Thank you!

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If several cousins are having a reunion, is it cousins' reunion, cousins's reunion, or cousin's reunion?

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