The possessive form of singular and plural nouns can be tricky, especially when those nouns end with a “y.” This article will explore how to use the correct possessive forms of “body” and “bodies.”
Body’s or Bodies: Which Is the Correct Possessive Form?
“Body’s” is the correct singular possessive form of “body.” It means that a single “body” owns an object in a sentence. “Bodies'” is the correct plural possessive form. It means that multiple “bodies” own an object. You must include an apostrophe after the “s.”
Check out this table to see the best ways to write different forms of “body:”
| Singular | Body |
| Plural | Bodies |
| Singular possessive | Body’s |
| Plural possessive | Bodies’ |
Possessive rules are fairly standard across most nouns. Once you know how to write standard nouns in the possessive form, you can usually apply that to other nouns.
For the singular possessive form, you start with the singular noun. Here, you start with “body.” To turn it into a possessive form, simply add an apostrophe and an “s” to the end of the noun. This allows it to “own” an object.
For the plural possessive form, you take the plural noun. This time, you start with “Bodies.” Now, “bodies” already ends with an “s,” so you don’t need to include another one. Instead, you just need to place an apostrophe after it to show ownership.
Bodies
“Bodies” isn’t a possessive form at all. Instead, it’s the plural form of “body,” showing that multiple “bodies” are present in a sentence.
You cannot use “bodies” to show possession. If an object comes after “bodies,” you need to include an apostrophe to show that multiple “bodies own it.”
Here are some examples to show you how to use “bodies” in a sentence:
- Our bodies are very important to all of us. It’s wise to listen to what yours has to say; otherwise, you might mess something up.
- Have you ever looked at these bodies before? They’ve given themselves to science! You can learn so much from them.
- Aren’t bodies remarkable? There’s just so much that you can learn from them and so much they can do for you.
- Their bodies haven’t had a proper rest day for a few months. I’m worried that they’re going to burn out soon.
Body’s
“Body’s” is the singular possessive form, showing that one “body” owns an object. You may include the object directly after “body’s” to show what it owns.
“Body’s” comes from the singular form “body.” You should use it when only one “body” is present.
These examples will demonstrate how to use “body’s” in a sentence:
- My body’s internal clock seems to be a bit out of sync. I can’t get a good night’s rest lately, and I hate it.
- Your body’s temperature is all over the place. I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but we must keep you under surveillance.
- The governing body’s policies aren’t something that I agree with. Nevertheless, I have to take them as they are.
- What are we going to do with the body’s old cage? We can’t put a new one in there because the exhibit has shut down.
Bodies’
“Bodies'” is the plural possessive form of “body.” You should use it when multiple “bodies” own an object or group of similar objects in the same sentence.
The objects can still come directly after “bodies’,” just like they would with “body’s.”
It comes from the plural form “bodies.” You only need to include an apostrophe after the “s” because “bodies’s” is incorrect. The repeated “s” is very jarring, so it’s removed in the plural possessive form in favour of readability.
Here are a few examples to show you how to use “bodies'” in a sentence:
- Our bodies’ demands are important. If we don’t listen to them, we’ll get in trouble.
- Their bodies’ needs come first. That’s why they’re always trying to find ways to bring new things into their lives.
- All of your bodies’ ambitions come from the heart. Whatever you want to do, you need to go out there and seize it.
- Multiple bodies’ conditions need to be accounted for before anything can be signed off. Go and get the doctor.
Bodys
You should not use “bodys.” It is incorrect. People use “bodys” when they don’t have a full understanding of how to create the plural form from a noun ending with a “y.”
When a noun ends with a “y,” you must change the “y” to an “ies” when pluralizing that noun. That’s why “body” becomes “bodies.”
There is never a time when you can add an “s” after the “y.”
Here are some examples to show you how to use the correct “body” and its variations:
- Correct: I’m not sure if this research body’s grant has come through yet. I’m worried that things won’t work out.
- Incorrect: My bodys not agreeing with me right now. I’m not sure what I ate, but something wants to come out of me.
- Correct: Our bodies are incredible. You should really give yourself more credit for the things your body puts you through.
- Incorrect: Stop it, his bodys clock is still recovering from his trip to the USA. The time zone can really mess with someone.
Bodys’
“Bodys'” is also incorrect. It comes from the incorrect plural form “bodys.” Since an apostrophe is used here, “bodys'” is an incorrect version of the plural possessive form.
You cannot write the plural possessive form in this way because “bodys” is not correct (the “s” cannot come after the “y”).
Here are some examples to remind you of the correct variations:
- Correct: What about all of the bodies’ needs that we talked about? There are so many things that we need to get right here.
- Incorrect: I told you that the bodys’ were no good to us. We can’t use these for our scientific experiments.
- Correct: My body’s biggest problem comes from my bone density. I wish it didn’t have to be this way.
- Incorrect: What’s the point in listening to their bodys’ if nobody is going to take themselves seriously?
Final Thoughts
“Body” is the singular form, while “body’s” is the singular possessive form. “Bodies” is the plural form, while “bodies'” is the plural possessive form. “Bodys” and “bodys'” are incorrect renditions of the plural and possessive forms; you should not use them.