How to indicate plural forms of nouns

In this article, we look at “How to indicate plural forms of nouns”. Already we all know the differences between the use of the letter -s or the letters -es when they are used to indicate the plural forms of some nouns and the use of the apostrophe -s (‘s) or simply the apostrophe (‘) to indicate ownership or possession, association, relationship, authorship, etc. I gave out some sentences for you to determine whether they were correct or incorrect.

Let’s go through the sentences to see how you fared in that exercise:

1. My younger sister attends a girls school.

This sentence is incorrect because the word GIRLS, as it stands, is plural and so does not indicate or convey the meaning we want to convey – that MY SISTER ATTENDS A SCHOOL ASSOCIATED WITH GIRLS.

To make that indication, we have to use only the apostrophe (‘) because the noun GIRLS is plural and ends with the letter -s.

The correct sentence should, therefore, be:

My younger sister attends a GIRL’S school. (That is, a school associated with GIRLS, not a GIRL.)

In English, this formation (GIRL’S) is called plural possessive; that is, indicating ownership or possession, association, relationship, etc. for a plural noun.

Other examples are a BOYS’ school, TEACHERS’ quarters, PARENTS’ contribution, MEN’S shoes, LADIES’ wear, WOMEN’S fellowship, a CHILDREN’S hospital, a FARMERS’ association, etc.

Note that although the sentence MY YOUNGER SISTER ATTENDS A GIRLS SCHOOL sounds correct when you read it, that doesn’t make it correct in writing. In writing, we must indicate possession or ownership, association, etc., with the apostrophe (‘).

2. The book’s on the table are for you.

This sentence too is incorrect because the word BOOK’S should be plural BOOKS, meaning MORE THAN ONE BOOK, not the possessive BOOK’S.

Indeed, sentence 2, as it stands with the word BOOK’S, is meaningless because it is not indicating whether anything belongs to, is associated with or related to books.

The correct sentence is:

The BOOKS on the table are for you.

3. I think mens shoes are more expensive than womens.

Sentence 3 too is incorrect because we have not indicated any possession or ownership, association, etc.

To show possession or ownership, association, etc. for the nouns MEN and WOMEN, we must add apostrophe -s (‘s) because although the words are plural, they do not end with the letter -s.

Note that the singular forms of MEN and WOMEN are MAN and WOMAN, and that the words MENS and WOMENS (without the apostrophe (‘) are un-English.

Sentence 3 should be:

I think MEN’S shoes are more expensive than WOMEN’S.