What is the possessive of attorneys general?

Applying these rules to attorney general, we see that the plural is attorneys general, the singular possessive is attorney general’s, and the plural possessive is attorneys general’s.

How do you write plural possessive?

The general rule for forming possessives The possessive of a plural noun is formed by adding only an apostrophe when the noun ends in s, and by adding both an apostrophe and s when it ends in a letter other than s.

Where does the apostrophe go for plural possessive?

Possessives

1. In singular possessive terms, place the apostrophe before the “s.” This will indicate ownership by one person or thing.
2. In plural possessive terms, place the apostrophe after the “s.” This will indicate to the reader that more than one person or thing owns the thing possessed.

Why is it attorney general instead of general attorney?

Why is it “Attorneys General” (plural) but not “Attorney’s General” (singular possessive)? With “Attorney General,” general modifies the noun attorney. Thus, when there is more than one Attorney General, you would write “Attorneys General.” This makes sense. You make the noun plural by adding an “s” to it.

What is the plural form of Attorney General?

Bryan A. Garner of LawProse provides the proper plural form of “attorney general” as well as the plural possessive. Generally, a compound noun made up of a noun and a postpositive adjective (one that follows its noun) is pluralized by adding -s to the noun, as with heirs apparent and causes of action.

How do you use Attorney General in a sentence?

In the phrase attorney general, attorney is the main part, and the word general is descriptive—it tells us what kind of attorney we have to deal with. It’s the same rule we follow for similar phrases such as sister-in-law and editor in chief. You make the main noun plural: I have two sisters-in-law.

Do we have more than one state Attorney General?

Believe it or not, I wrote this segment last week, before all the news about the attorney general broke, because I kept hearing people talk about all the state attorneys general. For my listeners who aren’t in the US, the nation has one federal attorney general, but each state also has its own state-level attorney general.

Is it Deputy Attorney General or Deputy Attorneys General?

Although I couldn’t find an answer in a style book, my gut instinct is that it would be deputy attorneys general because attorney is still the main noun and deputy is a modifier.