How to Use Apostrophes in Plural Nouns for Correct Spelling

These are vintage TVs, not TV ' s.

Correct spelling in the English language can be tricky. Sometimes, plural nouns are some of the trickiest words to spell. But they do not have to be hard.

First of all, a noun is simply a person, place, or thing--a dog.

Plural nouns indicate more than one person, place, or thing--two dogs.

Things You'll Need

• Desire to use correct spelling
• Desire to know when to use apostrophes in plural nouns

Instructions

1. PLURAL NOUNS

   Nouns can be singular or plural. Usually to make a word plural, we simply add the letter s.

   Some singular nouns follow: boy, rabbit, street, TV, chimp, diaper, and brick.

   Those same nouns when plural follow: boys, rabbits, streets, TVs, chimps, diapers, and bricks.

2. POSSESSIVE NOUNS

   Some people in relationships are possessive. That's no way to live and besides, that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about possessive nouns in the English language.

   The possessive nouns described here are not plural.

   Possessive simply means the noun (the person, place, or thing) has something or owns something. Like this:

   The woman owns a purse and it's red.

   To rephrase this sentence so it's not quite so awkward:

   The woman's purse is red.

   Add an apostrophe and the letter s to make the singular noun (woman) possessive (woman's).

3. PLURAL POSSESSIVE NOUNS

   Plural nouns, remember, are simply nouns that indicate more than one, such as boys. Sometimes a plural noun owns or possesses something.

   The boys' caps blew off in the wind.

   The word boys is all ready plural so add an apostrophe after the letter s to make the plural noun (boys) possessive. You can also add an apostrophe and another letter s to make boys's.

   Another example: We are always losing our TVs' remote controls in the couch and under the bed.

   To break it down: We have two TVs (TVs is a plural noun) and both remote controls get lost. Our TVs' remote controls (plural possessive noun) are both black..

   Again, an alternative is to add the apostrophe after the letter s and add another letter s to spell TVs's.

Tips & Warnings

• For correct spelling, nouns, when they are made plural, do NOT need an apostrophe before the letter s. The letter s alone makes the noun plural.

• An apostrophe shows possession.