The term secretary’s is the singular possessive form. E.g., “My secretary’s degree is in politics.” Furthermore, secretaries’ is the plural possessive. E.g., “The secretaries’ role in the company is vital.” Also, secretaries is the plural form of secretary. E.g., “We hired four new secretaries.”
The following chart provides an overview of the different forms of the word secretary.
| Singular | Secretary |
| Plural | Secretaries |
| Singular possessive | Secretary’s |
| Plural possessive | Secretaries’ |
Now, as you can see in the examples below, you can use secretary’s to refer to something that one secretary possesses. In comparison, you use the spelling secretaries’ to refer to something that two or more secretaries own.
- Singular: The secretary left the office at 8 pm.
- Plural: The secretaries were waiting at the entrance to the function.
- Singular possessive: The secretary’s name is Mary.
- Plural possessive: The secretaries’ pay demands were met by the company.
To make sure you never make a mistake again when using the possessives of the term secretary, you should read the rest of the page, where we explain the different forms in more detail.
Secretary’s
The term secretary’s is the singular possessive form of secretary. Therefore, you would use it to refer to something that one secretary owns or possesses.
Obviously, a secretary refers to a person. Therefore, the types of things you could use it for include characteristics or non-physical traits.
For example:
- Our secretary’s weakness is his punctuality.
- The secretary’s salary is higher than mine.
Also, you can use it to refer to physical objects.
- The secretary’s desk is always spotlessly clean.
Secretaries’
The word secretaries’ is the plural possessive form of secretary. Therefore, you should use it whenever you want to mention that multiple secretaries possess or own something.
You can use the plural possessive of secretary to refer to objects or places.
For example:
- The secretaries’ offices are located next to the reception.
In addition, you can use it to mention traits or non-tangible things such as emotions.
- The secretaries’ anger was understandable after the company denied them a pay rise.
Secretaries
The term secretaries is the standard plural form of the word secretary.
You use secretaries to discuss a plural number of secretaries, which can be two, as shown in this example:
- I don’t know what we would do without the assistance that both our secretaries provide.
Alternatively, the word secretaries can refer to all secretaries.
- The duties of secretaries are often similar to those of a P.A.