Bosses or Boss’s or Boss’? (Correct Possessive Explained)

The possessive form can be quite tricky if you’re not careful. We have the singular, the plural, and every in between. For that reason, we thought this article would be the best way for you to learn the possessive form of “boss” and how it works.

Bosses or Boss’s or Boss’: Which Is The Correct Possessive Form?

“Boss’s” is the correct singular possessive form for “boss.” We use it when a “boss” owns an object in a sentence. Some people believe that “Boss'” is correct because “boss” ends in an “S,” but this is not the case, as it’s only a one-syllable word.

Schools commonly taught that words ending in “S” should have the “S” after the apostrophe dropped in the possessive forms. However, this only applies when writing in the AP Style and only applies with names and two or more syllable words that are hard to pronounce with an extra “S.”

The actual possessive forms of “boss” are as follows:

Singular	Boss
Plural	Bosses
Singular possessive	Boss’s
Plural possessive	Bosses’

We keep the “S” after the apostrophe in the singular possessive form because “Boss” is a one-syllable word.

We must drop the “S” in the plural possessive form because it is hard to pronounce if left in.

Think about saying “bosses’s,” where all three “S” sounds have to be stressed to show that it’s the possessive form. It’s far too much to say, which is why we drop the “S” to help with comprehension.

The same rules work with words like “Jesus'” and “Texas’,” where there are two many repeated sounds for the reader to want the extra “S” at the end of the word.

Bosses

“Bosses” is the simplest form we can go through. It’s the plural case of “boss,” which simply means that multiple “bosses” are being spoken about. There is no possessive form involved here.

“Bosses” is the plural of “boss.” We add “-es” to the end because “boss” already ends in an “S.”

Here are some examples to show you how it works:

1. The bosses will be back any second, so we must be careful.
2. All of my previous bosses were difficult to communicate with, so I’m thankful for you.
3. The bosses would like to have a discussion about your conduct.
4. Where are all the bosses? I expected them to be here already.
5. This family is full of bosses, and we’ve all climbed up our respective corporate ladders!
6. The bosses had a lot to say in the meeting with each other, and we thought it was best to leave them alone.

Boss’s

“Boss’s” is the first possessive form that we can use. It works when we’re talking in the singular form, meaning that one “boss” owns something in the sentence.

We add an apostrophe and an “S” to the end of “boss” in the singular form. It means that one boss owns a certain thing in the sentence. The thing that the “boss” owns comes directly after it.

To show you what the possessive form looks like, you can refer to these examples:

1. My boss’s puppy was brought in to work, and everyone fell in love with him!
2. The boss’s office is just up the corridor and to the left.
3. What is the boss’s phone number? I need to contact him immediately.
4. You must be the boss’s wife. It’s a real pleasure to meet you.
5. This is the boss’s desk, so you must treat it with the utmost respect and care.
6. The boss’s happiness if very important to make sure no one gets in trouble.

Bosses’

Finally, we have “bosses’.” This is an incredibly rare case, as the plural possessive for “boss” hardly comes up. However, we use it when talking about multiple “bosses” owning the same thing in a sentence.

While rare, “bosses'” works when multiple bosses own the same object. The object owned by the “bosses” is often in the plural form itself to indicate that multiple people are involved in possessing it.

We’ll show you some examples with both the “S” and without the “S” so that you can see what makes it so difficult to include the extra letter.

• Correct: The bosses’ agreement was confirmed on Saturday, and it has a lot of things inside that will change our business forever.
• Incorrect: The bosses’s studies were all renovated over the weekend, which has put them in a good mood.
• Correct: The bosses’ timesheets were confiscated by people higher up than them, which was hilarious when you saw their reactions.
• Incorrect: My bosses’s interests lie only with making money, and they care very little about the normal operation of the company.
• Correct: Our bosses’ needs outweigh those of the employees at our workplace, which says a lot about them.
• Incorrect: Their bosses’s buildings have been condemned, and I don’t think he has much longer left at work.

Only “bosses'” is correct, and we must make sure to drop the second and unnecessary “S” after the apostrophe.

The more practice you have with the possessive form, the easier it’ll be to understand when the “S” works and when it doesn’t. Unfortunately, most of the learning for this comes down to memorization, so you’ll have to focus on each word individually before you get it.

Quiz: Have You Mastered Bosses Or Boss’s Or Boss’?

Finally, we thought a quiz might help you to understand how to use the possessive form. We’ll only focus on the singular possessive form since it’s much more likely that you’ll come across it over the plural possessive form.

7. My (A. bosses / B. boss’s / C. boss’) umbrella was left in the office last week.
8. Our (A. bosses / B. boss’s / C. boss’) have a lot to say about each other.
9. His (A. bosses / B. boss’s / C. boss’) office is the most extravagant thing I’ve ever seen in a workplace.
10. The (A. bosses / B. boss’s / C. boss’) cologne was unbearable when he walked past me.
11. How many (A. bosses / B. boss’s / C. boss’) have you had in the past?

Quiz answers

12. B
13. A
14. B
15. B
16. A

Final Thoughts

“Boss’s” is the correct possessive form when writing in the singular. The extra “S” is required at the end because it’s a one-syllable word. However, “bosses'” is the correct plural possessive form, and the “S” is dropped at the end due to the complicated readability it comes with.

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