Boss’s or Boss’?
The term Boss’s is a singular possessive form for boss, endorsed by the Chicago manual of styles. It means something belongs to the boss. E.g, The boss’s office is on the top floor of the building. Furthermore, boss’ is also a singular possessive form for the term boss. Use it when you are following the AP style guide e.g The boss’ decision will impact the entire team.
Here is a chart that gives an overview of different forms of the term boss and the examples.
| Form | Example |
| Singular | Boss |
| Plural | Bosses |
| Singular possessive | Boss’s/ Boss’ |
| Plural possessive | Bosses’ |
You can see from the chart that there are two different possessive forms for the term boss. Let’s look at each of the above forms and how you can use them in a sentence.
Singular:The boss is attending a conference next week.
Plural: The bosses gathered to discuss the quarterly performance.
Singular possessive (Apostrophe): I’m working on the report for the boss’ review.
Singular possessive (apostrophe + s): I have booked a meeting room for the boss’s presentation.
Plural possessive: The team follows the bosses‘ directives for the project.
Bosses is the standard plural for boss. It’s formed by simply adding ‘es’ at the end.
Still have questions? Read the rest of this guide where I explain in detail.
Boss’s
The term Boss’s is the more common of the two possessive forms. It means that something (tangible or intangible) belongs to the boss. You make this form by adding an apostrophe and an ‘s’ at the end.
- We value the boss’s opinion on this matter.
- The boss’s office hours are from 9 AM to 5 PM.
. This form is recomments by the Chicago manual of styles. According to Google Ngram, boss’s is the most common singular possessive form for boss in modern english. Sometimes you may have noticed that the ‘s’ is removed from the end when the following word starts with ‘s. ‘
- The boss’s suggestions significantly impacted the project outcome.
That is also correct and it is a recommended practice by both the AP style guide and the Chicago manual of style.
Boss’
Boss’ is also a singular possessive form for the term boss. You make this form by adding the apostrophe only. Although less common than boss’s, this form is clear and easier to pronounce when the next word starts with s.
- The boss‘ speech set a positive tone for the staff meeting.
- The boss’ secretary skillfully managed the schedule.
Use Boss’ when you are following the AP style guide.
Bosses’
Bosses’ is the plural possessive for the term boss’ Use Bosses’ if you are talking about something that belongs to multiple Bosses.
- We appreciate the Bosses’ support during challenging times.
- The Bosses’ feedback helped improve our work.
