Campuses or Campus’s or Campus’? (Correct Possessive Explained)

We need to understand the ins and outs of the possessive form rules before we can fully grasp the English language. This article will look at the possessive form of “campus” and how you can use it properly in your writing.

Campuses or Campus’s or Campus’: Which Is The Correct Possessive Form?

“Campus’s” is the correct possessive form for “campus.” We use it when one “campus” owns an object in a sentence. We can also use “campuses'” as the plural possessive form, which refers to multiple “campuses” owning an object or group of objects.

The following information will be useful to you as we continue through this article, so be sure to remember it:

Singular	Campus
Plural	Campuses
Singular possessive	Campus’s
Plural possessive	Campuses’

As you can see, the singular possessive form takes the singular word “campus” and adds the expected “‘s” to the end. Just like most other possessive forms in English, this “‘s” ending is an easy way to tell that the following word will be an object of some kind.

Also, the plural possessive rules are to be expected here. We can use the plural form “campuses” and add an apostrophe to the end of it to create “campuses’.” This is how most plural possessive forms are created, as the extra “S” is dropped after the apostrophe.

Campuses

The first one we want to run you through is the plural form. We use this only when talking about more than one “campus.”

“Campuses” means that more than one “campus” is mentioned in a sentence. There is no possessive form mentioned in this way (you can see that because there is no apostrophe present).

Instead of worrying about the possessive form, in this case, we simply worry about pluralization. You can see from the following examples what we mean:

1. The university campuses are all going to be under construction over the next few years.
2. The campuses have a lot of students scattered across them right now.
3. Which of the two campuses are you on right now?
4. There are three different campuses related to this university.
5. The campuses offer different natural reserves for anyone interested in that sort of thing.

“Campuses” is simply the plural form. We only use it to talk about more than one “campus.”

Campus’s

The possessive form requires an object of some kind. However, before we can use that, we must first use the “‘s” ending.

“Campus’s” is the singular possessive form. It works when talking about one “campus” owning an object in a sentence. We do this by placing the object directly after “campus” to highlight what it owns (i.e., “campus’s greenery”).

The word “campus’s” isn’t a particularly common one to come across. Usually, we treat animate nouns as possessive ones. We’d expect words like “person’s” or “student’s” or “child’s.” It’s not often that a subject like “campus” works in the possessive.

Still, even though it’s not common, that doesn’t mean we can’t use objects along with it. Every noun works to some degree in the possessive form.

These examples will show you how the possessive works for “campus:”

1. The campus’s yard is fresh and new after the renovation.
2. The campus’s greenery is something I always come out to marvel at.
3. The campus’s pathways are cluttered with plenty of rubbish!
4. The campus’s architecture is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
5. My campus’s designer is one of the students in the college!

“Campus'” works when one “campus” owns an object in the sentence. As you can see from the above examples, there aren’t many contexts or situations where this is relevant. Still, this is how the possessive form looks for “campus.”

Campuses’

The plural possessive form is even less relevant. You’ll very rarely find a case where “campuses'” works well, but we’ll show you how to use it to avoid any confusion if you ever need to.

“Campuses'” is the plural possessive form. It means that multiple “campuses” own the same object or a similar group of objects in a sentence. It’s common for the object after “campuses'” to be in the plural form itself when it’s part of a group.

One thing that’s important to remember is that we always drop the “S” after the apostrophe in the plural possessive form. An extra “S” would appear clunky and be difficult for many readers to understand:

• Correct: Campuses’
• Incorrect: Campuses’s

The singular possessive form is uncommon, and the plural possessive form of “campus” is even less common. There aren’t many cases where this will work, but we’ll still show you the following examples so that you can understand how “campuses'” looks:

• Correct: The campuses’ security guards are all lined up, ready to strike.
• Incorrect: Both campuses’s students have been at war for the last three weeks!
• Correct: Both campuses’ green land is impressive, but more can be done to fix it.
• Incorrect: All of the campuses’s gardens are beautiful in their own right.
• Correct: The campuses’ funds are all running low now.
• Incorrect: The campuses’s archways need urgent repairs.

“Campuses'” refers to multiple “campuses” owning the same object or group of objects in a sentence.

Quiz: Have You Mastered Campuses or Campus’s or Campus’?

Now is the time for a quick quiz to see what you’ve picked up from this article. We’ll include the answers at the end as well so you can compare them with what you’ve come up with.

1. The (A. campuses / B. campus’s / C. campus’) need a lot of work before we can open!
2. My (A. campuses / B. campus’s / C. campus’) design is better than yours.
3. The (A. campuses / B. campus’s / C. campus’) archway is crumbling before my eyes!
4. My (A. campuses / B. campus’s / C. campus’) security guard has it out for me.
5. These (A. campuses / B. campus’s / C. campus’) need a revamp urgently!

Quiz answers

1. A
2. B
3. B
4. B
5. A

Final Thoughts

“Campus’s” is the correct singular possessive form of “campus.” It’s not often that you’ll find a use for this possessive noun particularly, but it still helps to know how the possessive rules work. Remember that “campuses'” is the plural possessive form too.

You may also like: Students or Student’s or Students’? (Correct Possessive Explained)