Apostrophe?

[Stuart48]

Hello, I'm new here and was wondering if anyone can tell me for certain where the apostrophe goes in "Childrens Menu" - before or after the 's'?

Thank you in advance for any answers you can give me, Stuart.

[B00]

I always assumed it would be after the S in childrens. If you put it before the S, you're indicating that its a meal for one child.

I could be wrong though.

[chelle7272]

Children is plural so the apostrophe should be after the s

[Jumbuck]

BOO children is the plural of child so, since it is a plural noun rather than the plural of a noun, shouldn't it be before the s i.e. children's menu ?

[B00]

Ahhh- I dunno now jimbuck, im confused....

[LoftyLottie]

after the n and before the s as per Jumbuck.

Say it another way round and it makes sense.

The menu for the children

not the menu for the childrens

[Jumbuck]

I would suggest that the apostrophe only goes after an S if the S is already part of the plural noun (e.g. nations', dogs') and that if the plural noun does not end in S then 'S is appended.

But that is only what seems sensible to me, so doesn't count.

[theshedman]

Hi all, I would put it before the s as it is the menu of the Children not the menu of the Childrens. Ps most spell checkers put it that way too.

[naomi24]

Children is a plural. The apostrophe goes between the n and the s. Children's.

[Stuart48]

Thank you all so much for the answers - I thought it should be "Children's menu" & now I'm convinced by your helpful responses! This site is now in my "Favourites" list!

[B00]

Ok, so children as we all know is a plural....why do we put the S in there in the first place then?

[LoftyLottie]

There was talk on the TV (or it might have been the radio) the other day about getting rid of apostrophes from our language altogether as they serve no useful function. Apparently this has already happened in America. I want them to stay! I don't want to be like America.

[jno]

cos the S in this case is for possessive., like "B00's childrens".

Some Ss are possessive, some are plural.

[Jumbuck]

keep the apostrophe, keep out the riff-raff

[jno]

Lottie, if it goes, as it well might, it'll just be because people stop using it. I imagine texting will help it on its way - too much bother just for a signle squiggly little mark you can hardly see.

[ChuckFickens]

jno, but wouldn't your example be plural possessive so it would be

B00s' children

if it was singular possessive it would be

B00's child

[LoftyLottie]

Well you could hardly put 'Children Menu'. The apostrophe s just signifies 'belonging to' or 'pertaining to'.

Either that or make the plural of 'Child' 'Childs'

[B00]

Ahh cool, geddit now Jno.

I always thought I wasn't bad at english and grammar, but that had me foxed.

Interesting question stuart, and welcome to Answer Bank :-)

[jno]

very true, Chuck, but I didn't want to cause any confusion between B00s and booze.

[Jumbuck]

Boo is singular (in several senses) so it is BOO's child and BOO's children

[LoftyLottie]

jno is right

Boo's children is correct because the children belong to Boo not Boos