Everyone���s vs. everyones��� vs. everyones

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Everyone��s vs. everyones�� vs. everyones

Sometimes singular and plural pronouns and apostrophes can leave you feeling like you��re swimming in a turbulent ocean. Such is the case with everyone��s vs. everyones�� vs. everyones.

To begin, we should know the difference between everyone and every one. Everyone is the equivalent of everybody and refers to all members of a group, as in The street widening will affect everyone living on the block. In contrast, every one means each individual in a group, as in I will send thank you notes to every one who gave me a wedding gift. To help remember the difference, for emphasis you always can add each (one person) to a sentence containing every one, as in The bride danced with each and every one of the male guests at the reception.

Given this, we can can conclude that everyone is a singular pronoun. That is, it refers to a collection of people or a group. Just as the word group is singular (groups is plural), so everyone also is singular.

So to show possession, the apostrophe should go between the final e and s as in everyone��s. The other two are incorrect, first because everyones�� implies everyone is plural (which it isn��t) and everyones isn��t an actual possessive pronoun like his or hers.

Unfortunately, this grammar rule isn��t universal. In Britain, sometimes everyone and everybody are considered plural pronouns. The recommendation here assumes you��ve made landfall on the American side of the Atlantic.

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