Julia Byrd
Have you ever wondered if you should be writing ladies’ room or ladies room?
It’s all too easy to mistake a descriptive form ending in s for a possessive form. One easy way to determine if you should use
the descriptive or possessive form is to substitute an irregular plural form. Your ear will immediately tell you which form is
correct.
For example, substitute “women” for “ladies,” and you can easily hear which one is more appropriate:
• Women room
• Women’s room
Obviously, because women’s room sounds better, you know the correct form is the possessive form — ladies’ room.
Or try this one. Is it girls soccer team or girls’ soccer team?
• Women soccer team
• Women’s soccer team
Again, women’s soccer team is the correct form, so you know it’s girls’ soccer team.