Apostrophe help.. quick please!!!!

[SleepyJess]

I never have apostrophe dilemmas and sneer at their mis-use (what goes around comes around! ). but the more I look at this.. the less sure I get.... can someone advise and quicky? I need to get this essay done and dusted..

I have written a sentence which discusses ".. the implications on childrens lives..." and I can't decide whether it's..

children's or

childrens'

Eeek... and I am trying get a degree... scary!

Please help quickly someone!!

SJ x

children's

it's children's

because children is a plural that doesn't end in s

the lives of the children, not the lives of the childrens

agree with SL last post - that's how I'd put it.

n's
Remember there is no such word as childrens (plural of children which is already plural)
Clear as mud that explanation

Thank you. That's what I had put.. but the more I looked the less sure I became..

thank you SR and Twiglett

SJ xx

Lots of post crossing but at least we all agree!

Ah.. you think the sentence needs restructing then?

Yes.. I see 'on the lives of children' does look and sound better. In which case I would never have had the apostrophe dilemma.. lol!

Thanks x

Yes.. if you had all told me different things I would have been forced to go and ask DH.. who, in general terms, does not bother with punctuation at all!!!

No, you don't need to reconstruct it (unless you want to!) - that's how I work it out if I'm not sure, by saying it both ways in my head - so lives of the children or lives of the childrens, you wouldn't say the latter so put the apostrophe after children. Does that make sense?

children's because children is already plural unlike, say, horses' where you are talking about it pertaining to the horses.

children's, for reasons already noted by others.