The word student’s is the singular possessive of student. E.g., “Each student’s needs are different.” Furthermore, the word students’ is the plural possessive form. E.g., “University students’ work is supposed to be of a high standard.” Also, students is the regular plural form.
The following chart shows the different forms of the word student.
| Singular | Student |
| Plural | Students |
| Singular possessive | Student’s |
| Plural possessive | Students’ |
You make the singular possessive by adding an apostrophe and an “s.” In comparison, for the plural possessive, you just add an apostrophe to students.
Here are some examples that show the different forms in context.
- Singular: Each student must bring the signed permission form.
- Plural: The ideal number of students in a class is fifteen.
- Singular possessive: The student’s dedication was an excellent example to other students.
- Plural possessive: The school said they would listen to all the students’ demands.
Using the wrong form of the word student in your writing will make it look bad. Therefore, you should read the rest of the page so you can learn more about the different forms and how to use them.
Student’s
The word student’s is the singular possessive form of student. Therefore, you can use it to say something belongs to one student.
The things you refer to a student is owning can be both physical and non-physical.
As shown in these two examples:
- The student’s books were thrown all over his bedroom floor.
- The student’s loan repayments take up most of his salary.
In both instances, we are referring to just one student possessing something.
Students’
The word students’ is the plural possessive form of student. Therefore, you use it when you want to say that more than one student owns or possess something.
You form the plural possessive by adding the apostrophe to the end of the plural word students.
- College students’ lives are often hectic because of work and study commitments.
- The college met the students’ demands for a new study area.
Students
The word students is the regular plural form of the word student. That means you should use it to mention a plural quantity of studentswhen the sentence is not possessive.
With the word students, you can refer to a set number of students, as in these examples:
- All four students looked guilty, but none owned up to the crime.
- There are over five hundred students in my school.
Alternatively, you can use it to refer to all students.
- Students often say that school is hard but working and raising children are much harder.