Which sentence uses the plural possessive apostrophe correctly?

Which sentence uses the plural possessive apostrophe correctly?

• A. The dogs' bowls were overturned.
• B. The dog's bowls were overturned.
• C. The dogs's bowls were overturned.
• D. The dogs bowls were overturned.

Answer: (A)

Plural possession is shown by adding the apostrophe after the final s of a plural noun. Since “dogs” is plural and ends with s, the possessive should be formed as dogs’ to show something belonging to more than one dog. So the sentence with dogs’ bowls correctly indicates bowls that belong to multiple dogs.

The other forms mislead: dog’s bowls implies ownership by a single dog; dogs’s bowls is not the standard way to form a plural possessive; and dogs bowls lacks any possessive marking at all.