grammar cops...come in

[Semidevil]

The elementary school childrens' parents were invited to the play.

why is it childrens' and not children's?

 

[pyonir]

The children do not possess their parents?

 

[Nikamichi]

childrens' = plural possesive

/that is all

 

[Ryan]

Because you're referring to multiple children, not one (singular).

 

[Semidevil]

Originally posted by: Nikamichi
childrens' = plural possesive

/that is all

but why is it not children's? isn't that also plural?

 

[Daishiki]

are you sure it's childrens'? normally it's 's for plural nouns.

 

[puffff]

i believe it's children's, not childrens'

from here

 

[Semidevil]

Originally posted by: rbloedow
Because you're referring to multiple children, not one (singular).

but isn't children already plural?

 

[Nikamichi]

Originally posted by: Semidevil

Originally posted by: Nikamichi
childrens' = plural possesive

/that is all

but why is it not children's? isn't that also plural?

that represents a singular possesion.

there is more than 1 child + more than 1 parent

 

[Ryan]

Originally posted by: Semidevil

Originally posted by: Nikamichi
childrens' = plural possesive

/that is all

but why is it not children's? isn't that also plural?

The flamingos' parents flew away vs. the flamingo's parents flew away.

The first refers to a flock of parents flying away from their children, the other refers to a single bird's parents flying away.

 

[pyonir]

Originally posted by: rbloedow

Originally posted by: Semidevil

Originally posted by: Nikamichi
childrens' = plural possesive

/that is all

but why is it not children's? isn't that also plural?

The flamingos' parents flew away vs. the flamingo's parents flew away.

The first refers to a flock of parents flying aways from their children, the other refers to a single bird's parents flying away.

:thumbsup:

 

[puffff]

Originally posted by: rbloedow

Originally posted by: Semidevil

Originally posted by: Nikamichi
childrens' = plural possesive

/that is all

but why is it not children's? isn't that also plural?

The flamingos' parents flew away vs. the flamingo's parents flew away.

The first refers to a flock of parents flying aways from their children, the other refers to a single bird's parents flying away.

yeah, but for words that do not require an "s" to make it plural, there are different rules.
for example, a man's clothing, or men's clothing.

do a search on plural possessive on google.

 

[Phoenix86]

Right, but child is the signular of children, children is already pluralized.

This doesn't follow the rule because it's plural form doesn't end is "s".

Singular=child
Singular possesive=child's
Plural=children
Plural possesive=children's

 

[theNEOone]

child's parent - one child, one parent
child's parents - one child, more than one parent
children's parent - more than one child, one parent (in the case of siblings)
children's parents - more than one child, more than one parent

childrens' parents - "i are gifted"


=|

 

[ColdFusion718]

It's "children's." I don't see it used as "childrens'" unless I am reading something online or something from this decade, e.g. this thread. =)

 

[GonzoCircus]

children's

there is no such thing as "childrens'"

 

[Kyteland]

Why not avoid the confusion entirely by using childs'

 

[ohtwell]

You sound like my third graders. They also believe that the plural possesive form of children is childrens'. Like them you are completely incorrect. You should know better though, unless you are a third grader that is.

children's = plural possessive
child's = singular possessive


: ) Amanda

 

[mugs]

It's children's, the people saying otherwise in this thread have no idea what they're talking about. You only put the apostrophe at the end if the plural word itself end's with an s. Children is plural, it doesn't end with an s, so the apostrophe goes before the s as normal.

that represents a singular possesion.

there is more than 1 child + more than 1 parent

More than one child = children, more than one parent = parents, those are both covered.

Because you're referring to multiple children, not one (singular).

Which is why it's children's and not child's

The flamingos' parents flew away vs. the flamingo's parents flew away.

The first refers to a flock of parents flying aways from their children, the other refers to a single bird's parents flying away.

That's a plural word that ends with an s. Children is a plural word that does not end with an s.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Children is already plural.

 

[Ikonomi]

Lynne Truss in Eats, Shoots & Leaves:

And now, let us just count the various important tasks the apostrophe is obliged to execute every day.

1 It indicates a posessive in a singular noun:
The boy's hat
The First Lord of the Admiralty's rather smart front door

This seems simple. But not so fast, Batman. When the possessor is plural, but does not end in an "s", the apostrophe similarly precedes the "s":

The children's playground
The women's movement

But when the possessor is a regular plural, the apostrophe follows the "s":

The boys' hats (more than one boy)
The babies' bibs

I apologise if you know all this, but the point is many, many people do not. Why else would they open a large play area for children, hang up a sign saying "Giant Kid's Playground", and then wonder why everyone stays away from it? (Answer: everyone is scared of the Giant Kid.)

In plurals which do not end in "s", the apostrophe comes before the "s". It's "elementary school children's".

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: ohtwell
You sound like my third graders. They also believe that the plural possesive form of children is children's. Like them you are completely incorrect. You should know better though, unless you are a third grader that is.

children's = plural possessive
child's = singular possessive


: ) Amanda

😕

 

[Whisper]

Originally posted by: Ikonomi
Lynne Truss in Eats, Shoots & Leaves:

And now, let us just count the various important tasks the apostrophe is obliged to execute every day.

1 It indicates a posessive in a singular noun:
The boy's hat
The First Lord of the Admiralty's rather smart front door

This seems simple. But not so fast, Batman. When the possessor is plural, but does not end in an "s", the apostrophe similarly precedes the "s":

The children's playground
The women's movement

But when the possessor is a regular plural, the apostrophe follows the "s":

The boys' hats (more than one boy)
The babies' bibs

I apologise if you know all this, but the point is many, many people do not. Why else would they open a large play area for children, hang up a sign saying "Giant Kid's Playground", and then wonder why everyone stays away from it? (Answer: everyone is scared of the Giant Kid.)

In plurals which do not end in "s", the apostrophe comes before the "s". It's "elementary school children's".

Exactly. The correct form is children's.

Also, if a singular word ends naturally in s (such as a name, like James), then an apostrophe s is added onto that (e.g. James's) rather than simply adding an apostrophe with no s. The only time a word will end in simply s' is if it is plural and already ends in s without the possessive being present.

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: Whisper

Originally posted by: Ikonomi
Lynne Truss in Eats, Shoots & Leaves:

And now, let us just count the various important tasks the apostrophe is obliged to execute every day.

1 It indicates a posessive in a singular noun:
The boy's hat
The First Lord of the Admiralty's rather smart front door

This seems simple. But not so fast, Batman. When the possessor is plural, but does not end in an "s", the apostrophe similarly precedes the "s":

The children's playground
The women's movement

But when the possessor is a regular plural, the apostrophe follows the "s":

The boys' hats (more than one boy)
The babies' bibs

I apologise if you know all this, but the point is many, many people do not. Why else would they open a large play area for children, hang up a sign saying "Giant Kid's Playground", and then wonder why everyone stays away from it? (Answer: everyone is scared of the Giant Kid.)

In plurals which do not end in "s", the apostrophe comes before the "s". It's "elementary school children's".

Exactly. The correct form is children's.

Also, if a singular word ends naturally in s (such as a name, like James), then an apostrophe s is added onto that (e.g. James's) rather than simply adding an apostrophe with no s. The only time a word will end in simply s' is if it is plural and already ends in s without the possessive being present.

Seconded

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Whisper
Also, if a singular word ends naturally in s (such as a name, like James), then an apostrophe s is added onto that (e.g. James's) rather than simply adding an apostrophe with no s. The only time a word will end in simply s' is if it is plural and already ends in s without the possessive being present.

:thumbsup: That's another mistake people make that is so common, I usually try to avoid it at all cost for fear of people assuming I used it wrong.