Apostrophe for Irregular Plural Possessive
The Apostrophe
Rulebase Summary
If the plural of the word is made by changing the spelling internally rather than by adding s (women, children, men), form the possessive by adding an apostrophe and s. Use a dictionary for the plural of a word if you do not know it.
Examples
A. The childrens' playground was closed for repairs.
A. The children's playground was closed for repairs.
Children is already plural — add apostrophe and s, not s and apostrophe.
A. The womens' restroom is on the second floor.
A. The women's restroom is on the second floor.
Women is an irregular plural — form the possessive with apostrophe and s.
Transcript Notes
For compound nouns (like those with -in-law, -elect, -general), the main noun is made plural and the possessive is added to the end of the whole compound. Always add the possessive form to the end of the word.
Style Guide References (2)
Morson's
BGGP