English

Particle

s’

1. Plural possessive marker (applied to words which form the plural by adding -s), indicating than an object belongs to the plural noun phrase bearing the marker. (See also es'.)

   Chris’s heart leapt when she saw the expressions on her teachers’ faces. (the teacher + s’)

   their faces’ expressions (face + s’)

Usage notes

• Use of the plural possessive marker -s’ is to be distinguished from use of the possessive marker -' on nouns that terminate in -s (see -' for more) and from the possessive marker -'s (which also see). Whether they are pronounced identically or differently varies between idiolects. The BBC prescribes the following distinction:^[1](a) Dickens novel and Dickens’ novel dɪkɪnz nɒvəl, Dickens’s novel /dɪkɪnzɪz nɒvəl/; princess’s and princesses’ /pɹɪn.sɛs.ɪz/; i.e. adding bare ’ or -(e)s’ does not change pronunciation. Some speakers, however, may pronounce one or both as /ɪz/, i.e. Dickens’ as ˈdɪkɪnzɪz, princesses’ as /pɹɪn.sɛs.ɪs.ɪz/, and e.g. boys’ as /bɔɪzɪz/ (instead of the more common /bɔɪz/).

See also

• -'s
• -s

References

1. ↑ Learning English: Use of the apostrophe