Plurals and possessives

The rule in one minute

Plurals and possessives both often end in s, so students mix them up. But they mean different things.

A plural means more than one. It takes a plain s with no apostrophe: one book, two books.

A possessive shows that something belongs to the noun. It takes an apostrophe: the book’s cover.

Putting an apostrophe on a plain plural, as in two book’s, is one of the most common errors in English.

Most plurals just add s, but some change:

• Consonant + y becomes -ies: city, cities; story, stories. (Vowel + y just adds s: toy, toys.)
• Many words ending in -f or -fe become -ves: leaf, leaves; knife, knives.
• Words ending in -s, -ss, -sh, -ch or -x add -es: bus, buses; box, boxes.
• Some are irregular: child, children; foot, feet; man, men.
• A few do not change: sheep, series.

Why this pair costs marks

Markers notice apostrophes straight away. A wrong or missing one lowers accuracy in First Language writing and counts as an error in ESL writing.

The plural-with-an-apostrophe mistake is so well known that it has a nickname: the greengrocer’s apostrophe. Plurals and possessives appear constantly, so one bad habit repeats through a whole script.

The rules are short and fixed, so you can remove this error completely.

Wrong and right

• Wrong: We bought fresh vegetable’s at the market. Right: We bought fresh vegetables at the market. This is a plain plural.
• Wrong: The babys were asleep. Right: The babies were asleep. Consonant + y becomes -ies.
• Wrong: My sisters room is upstairs. Right: My sister’s room is upstairs. This is a possessive with one owner.
• Wrong: The three girls bags were identical. Right: The three girls’ bags were identical. Several owners, so the apostrophe goes after the s.
• Wrong: The knifes were blunt. Right: The knives were blunt. -fe becomes -ves.

Try it yourself

Correct each sentence, then check below.

1. The company opened two new factory’s this year.
2. All the childrens toys were left in the garden.
3. He collected the players jerseys after the match.
4. The leafs turned brown in the dry season.
5. My parents house is being repainted.

Answers: (1) two new factories. Consonant + y becomes -ies, with no apostrophe. (2) the children’s toys. Children is an irregular plural, so add apostrophe-s.

(3) the players’ jerseys. The owners are plural and end in s. (4) The leaves turned brown. -f becomes -ves.

(5) My parents’ house. Both parents own it, so the apostrophe goes after the s.

Make it a habit

At every s you add, ask: do I mean more than one, or something that belongs? If you mean more than one, use a plain s with no apostrophe.

If you mean ownership, add an apostrophe and check the owner. One owner takes apostrophe + s.

Plural owners ending in s take an apostrophe after the s. An irregular plural takes apostrophe + s.

Learn the tricky plurals as small families, not word by word. When you proofread, do a pass that looks only at words ending in s and at every apostrophe.

Where students get stuck, and how we help

Students often get the rule right in a quiz but still add apostrophes to plurals when writing fast. In our English as a Second Language lessons, a teacher marks plurals and possessives in your own writing and drills the ones that keep going wrong.

Lessons start from RM70/hr. You can book a paid one-hour trial to try it.

Next step

Practise in the practice area, then read our guides on apostrophes, spelling strategies and commonly confused words. Use the proofreading guide on your last essay.

Next, visit our original practice tasks to use the rule in your own writing. Our IGCSE English tuition page explains how lessons run. When you are ready, the paid one-hour trial is the first step.