I wouldn't have thought this was a big deal but this paper is worth over half my semester grade so: In the essay there are 2 words im unsure of. They are "Society's problems." The problem I have is how to write "society's"...Do I write it as "Society's" or "Societies". I would have thought the first but then sombody told me the second one so now I don't know. Thank you very much in advance for any help!
The problems belong to society, right? That means that you're using the singular possessive noun. Since it's possessive, it needs an apostrophe.
Therefore: society's problems.
In contrast, to use societies, you'd need a sentence something like this:
Many societies throughout history have struggled with the same problems we still have today.
Thank you vey much! =D
You're very welcome. I'm glad you asked.
Great question! Understanding how to correctly form possessive nouns can be a bit tricky, but I'm happy to help you with it.
In this case, when you want to indicate that something belongs to or is attributed to society, you would use the possessive form of the word "society." The correct way to write it in this context is "Society's problems."
To form the possessive of a singular noun like "society," you generally add an apostrophe and an "s" ('s) at the end of the word. This indicates ownership or possession.
Here's an example to help illustrate this further:
- The problem belongs to society, so we say "Society's problem."
On the other hand, if you were talking about problems belonging to multiple societies (indicating more than one society), then you would use the plural form "societies" without the apostrophe. For example, "The problems of various societies."
By using "Society's problems" in your essay, it indicates that the problems you are referring to belong to society as a whole.
Always remember to proofread and check the rules of possessives for the specific context you're writing in, as rules may vary in certain cases.