Countries or Country’s or Countries’? (Possessive Explained)

Before writing it in our sentences, we need to know how the possessive form of “country” works. Luckily, it’s not nearly as challenging as you think, and this article will explain the ins and outs of it.

Countries or Country’s or Countries’: Which Is The Correct Possessive Form?

“Country’s” is the correct singular possessive form of “country.” We use it in most cases to talk about one “country” owning an object. You may also find people using “countries'” when showing that multiple “countries” own an object. This is the plural possessive form.

“Country” needs to be changed when turning into a possessive form. We only ever include apostrophes when objects are being “possessed” in some way. This will all become clear as the article continues.

Check out these forms to help you:

Singular	Country
Plural	Country’s
Singular possessive	Countries
Plural possessive	Countries’

“Country” is a regular noun, and it follows regular possessive noun forms as well.

We add an “‘s” to the end of the singular form to create “country’s.” This helps us to explain when one “country” owns an object in a sentence.

The same works for the plural possessive form. We only add an apostrophe at the end because “countries” already end with an “S.” This is standard practice for most plural forms ending with an “S.”

Countries

“Countries” is the plural form. No possessive forms are used in this form, which helps us to explain it. Still, it’s relevant to the article because we want to understand the plural form before understanding the plural possessive form.

“Countries” works only when talking about multiple “countries.” We use it to show that the object of “country” is multiplied in a sentence, and it’s useful when talking about multiple entities.

That’s all there is to it with the plural form. We don’t include any apostrophe or owned objects because no possessive form is required.

1. The countries will be at war by the end of the decade if they aren’t careful.
2. I’ve visited many countries in my lifetime.
3. These countries are all desirable locations for a new branch.
4. The countries that I’ve marked are going to be problematic in the future.
5. These countries are all developing at surprising rates!

“Countries” is simply the plural form of “country.” It only works when multiple “countries” are being written about.

Country’s

“Country’s” works when only one “country” owns an object, and it is the simplest of the two possessive forms we can use.

“Country’s” is the singular possessive form of the noun “country.” We use it when one “country” owns an object or group of objects. This object is placed directly after “country’s” to highlight what is owned by the land.

The singular possessive form is fairly easy to follow. We only need to worry about adding an “‘s” to its end.

You can do this for any singular form that follows standard and regular noun rules. Since “country” is the singular form and it doesn’t end with an “S,” we can change it to “country’s” when we want to demonstrate the singular possessive form.

1. My country’s wealth is far greater than I realized.
2. The country’s powerful people are all there for a reason.
3. That country’s government isn’t nearly as stable as they believe it is.
4. My country’s people are idiots, and I need to do something to stop them.
5. The country’s power lies in the hands of the wrong people.

“Country’s” works when one “country” owns an object in a sentence. We can also refer to a group of objects since a “country” is a large entity capable of holding many objects (like a group of people). The object always comes directly after “country’s.”

Countries’

“Countries'” works as the plural possessive form. This is a fairly useful form when you’re trying to talk about more than one country (which happens more often than you might think).

“Countries'” works when showing that multiple “countries” own an object or group of objects in a sentence. We can use this by placing the object directly after the “countries” to show what they own.

The key thing to remember here is the apostrophe. There is no “S” letter after the apostrophe, which is useful when identifying most regular forms of plural possessive nouns.

The plural form of “countries” already ends with an “S.” That’s why we don’t need an extra “S” after the apostrophe in this case.

1. All of the countries’ meetings took place at the same time.
2. The countries’ congregation wasn’t something I expected to see in my lifetime.
3. Those countries’ citizens all need extra care if they’re going to survive in the current economy.
4. Many countries’ political parties are in power for the wrong reasons.
5. Those countries’ needs aren’t all that relevant when you look at the grand scheme of things.

“Countries'” works only when talking about more than one “country” owning an object or group of objects. We can place the object directly after the plural possessive form to show what is owned.

Quiz: Have You Mastered Countries or Country’s or Countries’?

It’s time to see what you’ve learned from this article. We’ll put your knowledge to the test with this quiz to see whether you’ve understood the differences between all the possessive forms.

1. There are many (A. countries / B. country’s / C. countries’) that need to talk things through before something terrible happens.
2. Too many (A. countries / B. country’s / C. countries’) have decided against this bid before we had a chance to explain it.
3. The (A. countries / B. country’s / C. countries’) people are dying of starvation, and we need to stop it.
4. Those (A. countries / B. country’s / C. countries’) citizens are all the same, even though they’re on different continents.
5. Many (A. countries / B. country’s / C. countries’) governments need a lot of help before they’re corrected.

Quiz answers

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

Final Thoughts

“Country’s” is the singular possessive form, and “countries'” is the plural possessive form. They are both pretty common choices for most native writers, and it would help to understand them both. Luckily, the rules we use with “country” are relatively simple as possessive forms go.

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