The word girl’s is the singular possessive form of girl. E.g., “The girl’s hair is blonde.” Furthermore, girls’ is the plural possessive form. E.g., “The girls’ basketball team won the cup.” Also, girls is the standard plural of girl. E.g., “The four girls enjoyed a coffee together.”
The following chart provides a summary of the different forms of girl.
| Singular | Girl |
| Plural | Girls |
| Singular possessive | Girl’s |
| Plural possessive | Girls’ |
You can make the plural form by adding an “s” to girl.
Furthermore, you can make the singular possessive by inserting an apostrophe between the “l” and “s.” In comparison, the plural possessive is made by adding an apostrophe to the end of girls.
In the following examples, you can see the different forms of the word girl in context.
- Singular: I have a seven-year-old girl called Maria.
- Plural: The girls said they would arrive around 9 pm.
- Singular possessive: I am having a girl’s night alone, without my husband.
- Plural possessive: The girls’ bathroom flooded because someone blocked the basins.
The difference between the singular and plural possessives is that we are talking about one girl in the singular possessive sentence. However, in the plural possessive sentence, we are talking about a place, the bathroom, that belongs to multiple girls.
Now you have learned the basics of how to use the possessive forms of girl. However, you should keep reading so you can learn more about each form and how to use them.
Girl’s
The word girl’s is the singular possessive of the word girl. Therefore, you use it when you want to say that something belongs to one girl.
You can mention things that are a physical part of a girl or part of her character.
- The girl’s nose was small and pointed.
- Our girl’s character is very determined and ambitious.
Girls’
The word girls’ is the plural possessive of girl. Therefore, you use it when you want to indicate that something belongs to multiple girls.
The plural possessive can refer to physical objects owned by girls, as well as things like results or opinions.
- The girls’ exam results were better than the boys.
- Somebody stole the girls’ bags from the bus.
Furthermore, the term girls’ can also refer to spaces explicitly designed for girls, as well as periods of time that girls spend without men.
- Our daughter attends a girls’ school.
- We are having a girls’ weekend in the local spa.
Girls
The term girls is the standard plural of the word girl. Therefore, you use it when you want to talk about more than one girl in non-possessive sentences.
You can use the plural version to mention a specific number of girls.
- All four girls said that they had seen Paula stealing the phone.
Also, you can use it to refer to all girls in a general sense.
- Girls usually perform better than boys at languages.