The word society’s is the singular possessive form of society. E.g., “Society’s biggest problem is wealth inequality.” Also, societies is the standard plural form of society, and societies’ is the plural possessive. E.g., “Societies’ problems are the same in different countries around the world.“
As you can see in the following table, the word society is irregular and finishes with “y.” Therefore, you form the plural by removing the “y” and adding “-ies.”
| Singular | Society |
| Plural | Societies |
| Singular possessive | Society’s |
| Plural possessive | Societies’ |
Likewise, you form the singular possessive by adding an “s” after the “y” at the end. At the same time, you can make the plural possessive by adding an apostrophe at the end of the word societies.
Here are some examples of the four forms in context:
- Singular: Many believe that our society must take care of the vulnerable.
- Plural: The economic crisis has affected societies worldwide.
- Singular possessive: One of society’s responsibilities is to provide healthcare to its citizens.
- Plural possessive: Societies’ standards of healthcare provision vary from country to county.
Using the wrong possessive or plural form will make your writing look amateurish. Therefore, to avoid making mistakes with the different forms of the word society, you should read the rest of the page, where we explain each term in more detail.
Society’s
The word society’s is the singular possessive form of society. Therefore, you should use it when you want to indicate that something belongs to one society.
Furthermore, you commonly use the word society’s to represent the people within a particular country. For example:
- British society’s etiquette and customs are based on historical precedents.
Alternatively, you can use the word society’s to refer to something that belongs to a particular organization or society. In these cases, the word society is often part of a proper noun.
- The African Medical Society’s annual conference will be on December 10th.
Societies’
The word societies’ with an apostrophe at the end is the plural possessive form of society. That means you should use it when you want to indicate that something belongs to several different societies.
When you use societies in a plural sense, it is often a synonym for the people of a country.
- One of the societies’ biggest sins worldwide is that deaths from hunger could be avoided in most cases.
- Societies’ expectations in terms of environmental protection vary wildly from place to place.
Alternatively, you can use the word societies’ to refer to something that belongs to several organizations or societies.
- All the respective societies’ representatives were at the medical conference.
Societies
The word societies is the regular plural form of society. Therefore, you should use it when referring to more than one society simultaneously.
In the following example, the word societies refers to the people of different countries.
- Societies around the globe are adapting to a post-covid world.
However, in the following example, the word societies refers to different clubs or organizations.
- He is a member of three chess societies.