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[ابواحمد عبدالله]

Apostrophes are used to sho

w possession. For example

• The dog's kennel
  
• The dogs' kennel

The big question is whether to put the apostrophe before the s or after the s. The basic rule is this: the apostrophe goes before the s for a single possessor (e.g., one dog's kennel) and after the s when it's more than one possessor (e.g., two dogs' kennel).

Note: In these examples, the dog and dogs are the possessors. It has got nothing to do with kennel. That word can be singular or plural. It makes no difference whatsoever to where the apostrophe goes. For example:

• One dog's dinner
  
• One dog's dinners
  
• Two dogs' dinner
  
• Two dogs' dinners

This ruling seems quite straightforward, but there are exceptions. The most notable exception is when the plural doesn't end in s (e.g., children, women, people, men). These words have the apostrophe before the s (even though they're plural). For example:

• children's toys
  
• women's hat
  
• (Here's another issue. It's not always about possession. This means a hat for women. Similarly, Picasso's painting is a painting by Picasso. He doesn't own it. Sometimes, it's about "possession" in the loosest terms.)
  
• people's poet
  
• men's sizes
  
•