What is the difference between parents and parents'?

Question

I am writing an essay and have found in my research papers when authors use (their parents') it has the apstrophe after the "s". When is it correct or incorrect to use the "s' or 's"

Answer 1

Parents' is the plural possessive form. Like, in a sentence, it would be, "My parents' bed is king-sized." In that case, it means both of your parents, not just one. Parent's is the singular possessive form. In a sentence, "My parent's car has a problem with the brakes." That would mean that the car was either your mom's or your dad's. When using that form, it might be easier to say "My mom's" or "My dad's."

And this would also apply with their siblings' and their friends'. It would mean that you were talking about more than one sibling and more than one friend.

Answer 2

The apostrophe means it's possessive: my parents' car, it belongs to both parents.  You wouldn't say parents's.

Answer 3

When talking about one parent: "The parent's room is a mess."

When talking about more than one parent: "The parents' room is a mess."

When talking about more than one parent: "The parents went to the meeting."

The apostrophe indicates ownership, and that's why it isn't in the 3rd example.

Same thing with the other words.

If you are saying something that belongs to a sibling, you use "sibling's".

Ex: My sibling's bed is smaller than mine.

If it's more than one sibling and you are saying something belongs to them, you say "My siblings' room is bigger than mine."

If you're just saying something about your siblings, you can say something like "My siblings are crazy."

Hope this helped!! :)