Check who a possessive refers to before moving the apostrophe
Check singular and plural reference before revising a possessive apostrophe.
About 4 min read · Allow extra time for the practical checks
Establish whether the sentence refers to one person, several people or an ordinary plural before changing its apostrophe. The mark helps express a grammatical relationship; it cannot tell you how many contributors actually supplied the material. Check that fact in the record rather than choosing the form that looks most familiar.
This guide concerns possessive nouns in ordinary academic prose. Names, specialised notation and quoted material may require further style-specific checks. It does not determine legal ownership or permission to reproduce someone else’s work.
Identify the noun and the relationship
Read the noun phrase in its sentence. Does “editor” name one editor, or does the account concern several editors? Does the sentence merely mention editors, or does it connect something to them, such as their notes?
Purdue OWL’s apostrophe guidance, checked on 2 November 2026, distinguishes a singular possessive, a possessive plural ending in s and a possessive plural formed without a final s. It also distinguishes ordinary noun plurals from possessives. Use those basic distinctions with the style required for your document; do not treat every noun ending in s as an instruction to add an apostrophe.
A possessive relationship is broader than literal ownership. An editor’s comment is associated with that editor. The punctuation does not establish copyright, endorsement or responsibility for a whole project.
Compare an original fictional record
The editorial exercise and records below are invented teaching material. They describe no actual publication or contribution.
Imagine that a fictional project file contains notes from one editor in one folder and notes from two editors in another. A paragraph describes the contents of each folder.
| Intended reference | Wording to inspect | Meaning to verify |
|---|---|---|
| Notes associated with one editor | the editor’s notes | The account really concerns a single editor |
| Notes associated with two editors | the editors’ notes | The plural noun is intended and the notes are associated with those editors |
| The people who supplied notes | the editors supplied notes | Editors is an ordinary plural here; no possessive mark is needed |
These are different phrases because they express different references and relationships. Moving the mark from before to after s is not a neutral typographical correction if the number of editors changes with it.
Suppose the project file does not identify how many editors supplied a particular note. Neither possessive form resolves that uncertainty. Check the attribution or use an accurate description of the known record while the identity question remains unresolved. Do not invent a contributor count to complete a proofreading pass.
Check irregular plurals separately
Some plural nouns do not end in s. Their possessive forms follow a different visible pattern from a regular plural ending in s. Recognise the underlying plural before deciding where the apostrophe belongs.
For example, “children’s accounts” refers to accounts associated with children. The form does not itself tell you how many children contributed or whether every child in a group supplied an account. Those details need to come from the study or source being described.
Avoid replacing a precise group label with a convenient possessive if the change blurs the population. An expression can be grammatically correct and still refer to the wrong people.
Rephrase when the relationship is difficult to follow
A chain of possessives can make a sentence cumbersome. Consider whether a short phrase using “of”, “from” or another accurate relationship would be clearer. Check the meaning of the replacement: notes from an editor and notes about an editor are not interchangeable.
Rephrasing can also help when several named people and different contributions appear in one sentence. Keep joint and separate contributions distinct using the actual record and the required style. If the attribution itself is uncertain, ask for clarification rather than treating punctuation as the solution.
When editing a quotation, follow the conventions for permitted changes instead of silently correcting the source. When editing a person’s name, check its spelling and the required possessive convention; this brief guide is not a complete treatment of names ending in s.
Review the claim after the punctuation
Read the revised sentence for contributor number, relationship and attribution. Then check the visible apostrophe. Separating these questions helps catch a polished phrase whose factual reference is wrong.
Use the pronoun-reference guide when readers cannot identify what a reference points to. Use the proofreading guide for a broader final check. An accurate possessive should make a known relationship clearer, without adding a fact the record does not supply.
