Fathers or Father’s or Fathers’?(English Grammar Explained)

Grammar / By

Fathers is the plural for father. Father’s is the singular possessive form of father. Fathers’ is the plural possessive form of fathers. 

Fathers or Father’s or Fathers’ are all pronounced the same way.

Fathers

We use fathers when we want to make the word “father” plural.

So it is:

I have one Father.

I have two Fathers. 

Father’s 

Father’s is the possessive form of father. We use the possessive form of Father when we want to show that one father owns something.

This is my Father’s house.

We need to look after our Father’s plant.

Remember we are talking about only one father. You can replace father’s with a name if that makes it easier to understand.

This is Peter’s house.

We need to look after Peter’s plant.

Fathers’ 

Fathers’ is the possessive form of fathers. When the noun already ends in “s” and we want to make the word possessive, we need to put the apostrophe after the “s”.

It is time for the weekly fathers’ meeting.

In this case, there are many fathers involved.

In spoken English, it can be difficult to know whether you are talking about one father or many fathers in the possessive because father’s and fathers’ sound exactly the same.

Is it Fathers Day, Father’s Day or Fathers’ Day?

Fathers Day is incorrect. We need to use the possessive form of father because the day belongs to father. Both Father’s day and Fathers’ day are possible depending on if you are talking about one father or many fathers.

When sending a greeting to my father I would use “Happy Father’s day” but if I am referring to the day, in general, I would use “Happy fathers’ day”.  

What is the difference between Father’s and Fathers?

Fathers is simply the plural of the word father. Father’s is the singular possessive of father which means that your father owns something.

Is Father’s plural?

No, “Father’s” is not plural. It is the possessive form of father. “Fathers” is the plural of “Father”.

Conor
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