Grammar accuracy is a very important thing in creating a person’s impression. While writing something or texting or e-mailing someone important, using the wrong grammar can a huge difference. It can be even more disastrous if you are sending it for an interview or business proposal or any important thing that matters. This is why gaining more and more knowledge on grammar and spelling accuracy is a huge plus point anyone can avail.
Today’s grammar problem is about people. We mostly get confused with the apostrophe s and this type of problem are getting out of control. We also sometimes have to google these problems in our daily life.
‘People’ is really a common word like ‘everyone’. We use it more or less in almost everything like articles, essays, or even normal texts. Now, this thing always comes which is how to use ‘s to ‘people’. Is it peoples’ or people’s? Which one is correct? These two words look almost similar and the only difference they have is the position of the apostrophe. Both of these words are correct in their own bounds. Let me elaborate on this problem a little.
What is the plural of “People”?
‘People’ is both a singular and plural noun. You can use it as a singular as well as a plural word. However, one can use ‘peoples’ as well. If you use ‘people’ as singular, then the plural word will be ‘peoples.’ Basically, most people use ‘people’ as the plural form of ‘person.’ The main difference is that people is a group of person and peoples is some groups of people. That variation makes it easy to understand which plural word you should use given your circumstances.
People’s – grammatical explanation
The correct way to explain this word is using possessive form. When we say “Possessive,” it means the possession of something. There are numerous possessive pronouns to explain how a possessive word works such as theirs, hers, yours, his, hers, etc. However, most of the words are added an apostrophe or an apostrophe ‘s’ to make their possessive word. People’s is that kind of word.
People’s, this word means something that is in possession of people. For example:
- People’s opinion matters on this topic.
- The people’s Republic of Korea.
Peoples’ – grammatical explanation
Peoples’ is the possessive form of peoples. As we have said before, you can use peoples as the plural of ‘People.’ Suppose Laura, Sam, and Agnes are people 1 and Ijekiel, Lucas, and Claude are people 2. If you want to call both of these groups together, you will say peoples. In short, some person makes people and some groups of people make peoples.
In the same way of creating the possessive of People, we can also say the possessive of peoples. And, that is peoples’. For Example:
- In this world, peoples’ languages vary a lot.
- You don’t have to care about other peoples’ hatred and wrath if you love yourself.
Peoples’ vs People’s
The ‘people’ itself is a plural word given that it is the plural of person. A group of persons makes people and some groups of people make peoples. When we use the possessive of both these words, the apostrophe comes in. We already know if the word ends with an ‘s,’ we don’t need to put the additional ‘s’ that comes with the apostrophe. Since the words Peoples and people are both correct, their possessive are also correct.
If you see the possessive of People, it is People’s. Furthermore, the possessive of peoples is peoples’. It did not end with peoples’s because of the apostrophe rule. The additional ‘s’ remain pseudo.
Peoples’ or people’s
Both the words Peoples’ and People’s are correct in their own variation and rule. When you are referring to a group of some person, you definitely cannot use peoples and that way peoples’ will also be a big no. You have to use people and people’s. Similarly, when referring to some groups of people, the right answer to use is peoples and peoples’. It matters how you are using it and in what bound.