Search Your Query Here

Company vs Company's vs Companies vs Companies'

As simple as it might sound - the use of Company's, Companies and Companies' are generally mistaken by many people in writing due to sheer ignorance of the minor difference between them.


1. Where to use - COMPANY?

The "Company" is a (singular) collective noun, which means 1(one) company.

Even though a company represents a group of people, in the eyes of law it is considered to be a single legal entity (an artificial person).

Example - Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California.





2. Where to use - COMPANIES?


The plural (collective) noun of 'Company' is "Companies", which means two or more number of companies.

Example - The Standard & Poor's 500 (S&P 500) is an American stock market index based on the market capitalization of 500 large companies having common stock listed on the NYSE or NASDAQ.

3. Where to use - COMPANY's?

Company's - a singular possessive noun.

It means something belongs to a Company viz. assets, employees, etc.

Example - The Company's workers went on strike in pursuit of a pay increase earlier this month.





4. Where to use - COMPANIES'?

Companies' - a plural possessive noun.

It means something common belongs to a number of Companies.

Example - Record Companies’ U.S. Revenue Up 8.1% in the First Half of 2016.


5. COMPANIES'S

The use of Companies's is incorrect in written English.

Although you may still find the use of apostrophe + s after plural nouns at many places on the net and books, this use is considered wrong widely by many authors, writers and people with sound knowledge in English grammar.




Comments

  1. Kaavya Solanki18 June, 2018

    Hey, thanks for this information! It was really helpful in clearing my doubts. Now, I have a good understanding on the terms.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Short and to the point explanation. I like it. thnx :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Brandon Rivera18 September, 2018

    This has been very informative for me. Thanks for elaborating it so briefly and nicely.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ralph Shagonny07 November, 2018

    Very informative, thank you kindly for this accessible definition of the various forms of the word company. Too many young gunslingers have misused the plural use of this word.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ummm, there is a confusing typo on the instance I am looking up:
    When to use "Companies's" and the example uses the spelling "Companies' "

    I'm pretty sure there should be no 's' after the apostrophe in the definition:
    Companies's - a plural possessive noun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're right. It seems to be corrected now.

      Delete
  6. I have seen "A company's working hard to promote..."

    Is that a correct use of a contraction??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it's correct. Here - Company's means Company is.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous28 June, 2019

    if something is belonging to a company why isn't the correct spelling companys?
    Why is there a need for an apostrophe as the word company does not end in an S and it is not pertaining to anything plural?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The plural of company is 'companies'. When something belongs to a company, it is written as Company's, just like if something belongs to a person, it is written in the same fashion. Example: Monica's dog is from Italy. Frank's car is so beautiful. Company's employees are on strike.

      Delete
  8. Awesome work Co Vs .Cos ok bye

    ReplyDelete
  9. I need this company's information or I need this company information. Which one is correct?

    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  10. What about companies' sales? Would this be correct?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, that'd be alright to write.

      Delete
  11. Do we use anywhere companys'

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment