Months or Month’s or Months’? Correct Possessive (Helpful Examples)

The plural form and the possessive form require you to put an “s” at the end of a word. However, both forms mean different things, and sometimes you need an apostrophe, while other times you don’t. Let’s look at months, month’s, and months’ and see when to use each form.

Is It Months, Month’s Or Months’?

Months should be used when talking about the plural of month (so talking about multiple months). Month’s should be used when you want to use the singular possessive form (saying that one month owns an object). Months’ should be used when you want to use the plural possessive form (when multiple months own an object).

Singular	Month
Plural	Months
Singular possessive	Month’s
Plural possessive	Months’

6 Examples Of How To Use “Months” In A Sentence

We’ve explained the basics of each word. Now it’s time to look at them more closely. We’ll start with “months.” “Months” is the plural form of “month,” and we use it when we discuss multiple “months” in the same clause. At no point will you ever need an apostrophe when writing “months” in the plural form. We’ll show you what we mean with some examples.

• It’s been six months since I saw her.
• I’ll see you in three months.
• We left for ten months.
• They’ve been there for six months.
• She is sixteen months today.
• How many months has it been?

You’ll see how we’re referring to multiple months at the same time in each of these examples. It’s common to see “two months,” “three months,” “four months,” and so on. We would never say “one months” because “one” would imply we need the singular form.

6 Examples Of How To Use “Month’s” In A Sentence

But there is a time when we say “one” and use “month” with an “s” on the end. However, in this case, we write it with an apostrophe between the last letter of “month” and the “s.” This turns the word into the singular possessive form. In this form, we are showing that a “month” owns something in the sentence. It will come directly before a noun in the sentence to show this ownership. Here are some examples.

• One month’s notice was all I was given.
• In one month’s time, we’ll be famous.
• What is this month’s special?
• What is this month’s sign?
• A month’s detention for all of you.
• A month’s summer bloom.

6 Examples Of How To Use “Months'” In A Sentence

And when we use the final form “months’,” it’s because we’re using the plural possessive form. This is very singular to the singular possessive form we mentioned above, except this time, we can only refer to multiple months in the sentence. To simplify things, we’re combining the plural form “months” with the possessive form “month’s” to create the plural possessive form. Here’s what we mean.

• Two months’ notice.
• Two months’ detention for you both.
• I have to pay three months’ rent.
• My landlord forced me to pay seven months’ rent.
• In six months’ time, we’ll be out.
• That’s six months’ salary.

As you can see, in each of these examples, we’re using “months'” in the plural sense. You can’t use this form of “months'” without mentioning multiple months simultaneously. Like we said above, you will never say “one months'” for anything because it isn’t grammatically correct. Learn the plural and singular differences, and you’ll be a master!

Quiz: Have You Mastered The Months, Month’s Or Months’ Grammar?

We’ll finish you off with a quick quiz to see what you’ve learned about the difference between the plural and possessive forms (and combining them both). If you paid close attention to what we’ve said in this article, this should be a breeze! We’ll include the answers at the end for you to reference as well. If you’ve got anything wrong, you can always go back and see what you missed.

1. That’ll be one (A. months / B. month’s / C. months’) pay.
2. I’m giving you two (A. months / B. month’s / C. months’) notice.
3. We have three (A. months / B. month’s / C. months’) left.
4. She is six (A. months / B. month’s / C. months’) old.
5. How many (A. months / B. month’s / C. months’) homework do you have left?

Quiz Answers

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

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