The primary difference between business’s and businesses is that; business’s is the possessive case of a singular noun (business) while businesses are the plural form of business.
There are billions of people who study English worldwide, making it one of the most widely spoken native languages. For that reason, many people take English lessons to hone their speaking skills and vocabulary knowledge.
English is a very complicated language to learn. Both learners and native speakers have difficulty mastering it due to its unpredictable spelling and tricky grammar. People tend to get confused and mix up different words in English.
I’m going to look at two such tricky words here – business’s and businesses. If you want to understand these, stay with me until the end of this article.
What Do You Mean By Business?
The term “business” has two meanings.
One refers to an organization or venture involved in commercial, professional, or industrial activities. This is a countable noun. For example, You can count how many businesses are working in your area.
The other one refers to the efforts and activities of individuals who make and sell things for profit. In this case, business is used as an uncountable noun. For example, let’s do business together. The word business has no singular or plural form as it’s uncountable.
In terms of grammar, business is a noun used either as a subject or object in different sentences.
Business can be a profitable or non-profitable organization. You can see various scale businesses worldwide, ranging from small scale like the single industry to a multinational setup with multiple industries.
The ownership of businesses is also different – either a single person owns it or a group of investors (in the case of multinationals).
What Is The Difference Between Business’s And Businesses?
The term business’s is the possessive form of business, while businesses are the plural form of business.
You’ve already read that business is a noun.
Without the addition of “es,” it is singular as it represents a single company. However, when you add “es” at the end of the business, it becomes plural because indicates more than one company or organization.
Based on the English grammar rules, “es” is added at the end of words to make them plural. In the case of business’s, the addition of “s” is different – “s” is added after the apostrophe to show ownership or possession.
Here is a table showing examples of both words for better understanding.
| Examples Of Business’s | Examples Of Businesses |
| These are the business’s assets. | He owns all the textile businesses in this town. |
| The business’s address you’re looking for is right around the corner. | Pharmacy businesses are quite productive nowadays. |
| This business’s owner is a pretty hard-working fellow. | My father owns various property dealing businesses across the country. |
What Is An Apostrophe “s” And How To Use It?
Apostrophe “s” is used to mark possession of something by someone and is added immediately at the end of the possessor word.
You must keep specific rules while adding apostrophe “s” to different words. Some of these are listed here.
- For singular nouns, possession is indicated by ‘s, written after the possessor—for example, Ella’s horse, Tom’s book.
- In the case of singular pronouns, you don’t have to add an apostrophe before “s.” For example, hers, ours, yours.
- For plural nouns that end with “s,” you only add an apostrophe at the end of the word. For example, the businesses’ owner (here you are talking about more than one company), Sanchezes’ horse.
- You also have to add apostrophe “s” at the end of every plural noun—for example, children’s toys and students’ books.
I know it sounds confusing but once you get to it, the way you speak and write will improve a lot.
Rules For Making Plural Of Singular Nouns
You can convert singular nouns into plural simply by adding “s” at the end in most cases. However, there are few rules for various words to convert them into plural.
I’m going to list a few of them here.
- You can add “s” to the end of the noun to make it plural. For example, cat to cats, boy to boys.
- If a singular noun ends with s, ss, sh, z, x, orch, you’ll replace it with “es” to change it to the plural form. For example, tax to taxes, bus to buses, torch to torches.
- Similarly, in some cases, when a word ends with f or fe, you have to replace it with “-ve” and add “s” at the end of the word to make it plural. For example, life to lives, knife to knives, leaf to leaves.
Here is a short video clip for you on how to change singular nouns into plural ones.
Is It Business’s or Business’?
Business’s is the right word for a single possessive noun and business’ is the possessive plural form of the word business which is used as a noun that means a company.
You can add an apostrophe after the “s” if the word is plural. However, in the case of a singular noun, you have to put an apostrophe before “s” (business’s in this manner).
So, if you’re talking about a single company’s possession, you’ll write business’s.
What Is The Difference Between Business And Businesses?
The terms business and businesses both refer to companies. The only difference is that the first word is singular, and the latter is plural.
A business is a single enterprise, organization, or company which is a singular noun that is countable. On the other hand, its plural form is businesses that pertain to more than one business.
What Are The Four Types of Business?
The four types of business are;
- Sole proprietorship
- Partnership
- Corporation
- Limited Liability Company
A business in a sole proprietorship is run by someone for their benefit. A single person is responsible for making every decision in this case.
In partnership, a business is owned by two people – both are responsible for any loss or profit of the organization.
A corporation is a legal person and a separate entity for tax purposes. It means that profits generated by corporations are taxed as the company’s “personal income.”
In the US, a limited liability company (LLC) protects owners from personal responsibility for debts; it does so by separating equity from ownership.
Final Takeaway
Business’s is a singular countable noun and businesses is the plural form of “business” which is an uncountable noun.
In Layman’s terms, the term business’s is used if we’re talking about one business owned by a single entity. On the flip side, businesses is used if we’re describing more than one business or a group of businesses with multiple owners.
Be careful not to interchange these two words to avoid implying the wrong meaning.
I get it. It sounds confusing but you’ve got to learn how to use these words appropriately for better communication.
I hope your doubts about these two words are cleared now.
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