Community’s vs Communities: Plural and Apostrophe Rules

I used to trip over the phrase “community’s or communities” like it was a Lego on the living room floor. In my experience, even smart folks pause before hitting send on a post or email. Is it the plural of community? Or the possessive with an apostrophe? I’ve seen it butchered in newsletters, Slack threads, even on banners at real events. And hey, I’ve been doing community management for over a decade, so I’ve got scars. I’ll walk you through it in plain language. With examples. With some sarcasm. And with a few grammar crumbs like “plural of community,” “apostrophe usage,” and “singular vs plural” sprinkled around so this page actually helps people who search weird things at 2 a.m.

Why people mix these up (and why I still facepalm)

I’ve always found that we mess up simple words when we’re in a rush. “Community” looks friendly. It wears a hoodie. But then you add an apostrophe or try to make it plural, and suddenly we’re in a small grammar maze. It doesn’t help that “community” ends in a “y,” which flips to “ies” when plural. More on that in a second.

What I think is funny is how the stakes feel huge. You write a community update, and someone replies, “Actually it’s communities, not community’s.” Yes, I know, Daniel. You could’ve just said “nice post.”

The little mark that starts big fights: the apostrophe

The apostrophe shows possession. That’s its main job here. Not to make a word fancy. Not to help it sound plural. If you’re showing that something belongs to the community (one community), you use community’s. If many communities own the thing, you use communities’. The apostrophe’s placement tells the story. If you want a deeper dive, the basics are explained well on the Purdue OWL guide to apostrophes: apostrophe rules. And if you want a nerdy background on the mark itself, the apostrophe on Wikipedia is a short rabbit hole.

The “y” problem: when words switch outfits

Some nouns ending in “y” turn into “ies” when plural, like “city” to “cities.” Same pattern here: community becomes communities. The Cambridge Grammar page on this pattern is simple and clear: nouns ending in y. Yes, you can skim it while your coffee cools.

Quick meaning check: what “community” actually means

Before we argue plural vs possessive, let’s ground the meaning. A community is a group of people who share something—place, interest, identity, goal, sometimes just a hobby with a lot of emojis. The dictionary definitions aren’t scary; I promise. Try Merriam-Webster’s entry: community meaning. Or the Cambridge one: community definition. Both basically say: people together, with a common thing.

Okay, forms you actually use (with straight-to-the-point examples)

Singular possessive: community’s

Use this when one community owns or has something.

• The community’s rules are posted in the forum.
• Our community’s moderator team meets on Tuesdays.
• I fixed the community’s event calendar after it broke. Again.

In my experience, this is the form I type most in work emails, because most teams speak about a single group they run. Think “the community’s feedback,” “the community’s vibe,” “the community’s onboarding guide.” Simple.

Plural (just more than one): communities

Use this when you mean many communities. No apostrophe. Just plural. This is the form I use when I compare groups, share metrics across multiple forums, or make broad claims like a conference speaker who hasn’t slept in 48 hours.

• These communities grew faster than expected.
• Health communities behave differently from gaming communities.
• I manage three communities and a very judgmental cat.

Plural possessive: communities’

Use this when many communities own the thing.

• The communities’ leaders met to set shared standards.
• We gathered the communities’ feedback into a report.
• The communities’ fund is audited each quarter.

Notice where the apostrophe sits: after the s. That’s the tiny parking spot for plural possessive. If it feels fussy, you’re normal.

A tiny table for your frazzled brain

I like quick cheatsheets. Tape this to your laptop if you want.

Where grammar meets real life (and a bit of chaos)

I’ve run forums, Discord servers, and “official” Facebook groups where the most active members were night owls with sharp opinions. I’ve seen a single apostrophe make a headline sound like we only had one group when we actually had twelve. Cue: confusion, people asking “which community?” and a moderator pinging me at 6 a.m. I now triple-check subject lines. Grammar isn’t fake fancy; it’s clarity. Especially when you’re juggling metrics, vibes, and a dozen DMs that all say “quick question.”

There’s also the fun of dashboards. Ever try to compare communities and realize your spreadsheet column is labeled “community’s growth”? Singular possessive. But your chart is summarizing five different groups. I’ve done this. Twice. It’s a small thing that ruins trust in your numbers. Fix the label, people take you more seriously. Honestly, half of community ops is naming stuff well.

Examples from my inbox

• Bad: “We reviewed the community’s posts across Reddit, Discord, and our forum.” (That’s three communities.)
• Better: “We reviewed posts across our communities on Reddit, Discord, and our forum.”
• Bad: “All communities growth dipped last week.” (Missing an apostrophe doesn’t apply here; the problem is a missing word.)
• Better: “All communities’ growth dipped last week.” (Plural possessive, if that’s what you meant.)
• Also fine: “Growth dipped across all communities last week.” (No possessive needed.)

Mini practice: say it out loud

Here’s my simple trick. Replace the word with “group” or “groups,” and check if you mean one group, many groups, or something owned by those groups.

• If it’s one group owning something: group’s → community’s.
• If it’s many groups: groups → communities.
• If it’s many groups owning something: groups’ → communities’.

I do this on the fly before posting quick notes. Sounds silly. Works every time.

Common traps I still see (and sometimes make)

Slapping an apostrophe to make plurals

Nope. That’s not what an apostrophe does. Don’t write community’s when you just mean more than one community. You want communities. That’s just the plural. No extras.

Forgetting the “y → ies” flip

We’ve covered this, but I promise you’ll type “communitys” at least once in your life. Muscle memory fails. The rule exists for a reason (vowel sounds, boring phonics stuff). Just remember: city/cities, company/companies, community/communities.

Mixing audience scale in a single sentence

Like writing “the community’s members across national chapters.” Are there multiple chapters? Then you probably mean “our communities’ members across national chapters.” Or just rewrite: “members across our national chapters.” Cleaner. I trim extra grammar when I can.

Style notes from a cranky community person

When I edit, I’m not trying to sound like a textbook. I want clarity plus a little warmth. I avoid five prepositional phrases in a row. I avoid stacked nouns that read like a filing cabinet. And I keep an eye on possessives, because they change meaning fast.

When I prefer a rewrite over a possessive

• “The community’s goals” → “Our goals for the community.”
• “The communities’ leaders” → “Leaders from different communities.”
• “The community’s expectations” → “What the community expects.”

Same meaning. Less mental math for the reader.

A quick detour: definitions and sources that won’t make you snore

If you get stuck, check a real source instead of arguing with your cousin in the group chat. I already linked a few, but I’ll say it again. The definition pages are handy for context: Cambridge Dictionary and Merriam-Webster. For punctuation, skim Purdue OWL on apostrophes or the Wikipedia apostrophe page. And for that “y to ies” flip, the Cambridge grammar on nouns ending in y is quick.

The SEO-ish corner (don’t roll your eyes at me)

People search weird strings like “community plural,” “community apostrophe,” “plural of community,” “communities meaning,” and yes, “community’s vs communities.” If you write docs, help pages, or onboarding guides, toss in these phrases so humans (and search engines) find your content. In my experience, a tiny FAQ block with these forms saves your support team from repeating themselves forever.

How I use it in real docs

• Glossary: community, communities, community’s, communities’.
• Examples that feel real: “Our gaming communities grew 12% DAU.” “The community’s rules ban spoilers for 24 hours.”
• Short notes on the side: “Plural does not use an apostrophe.”

A travel tangent (still relevant, promise)

I pick up a lot of writing habits while I travel and meet local groups—neighborhood boards, hobby clubs, the random people who run the better parts of the internet. Seeing notice boards and WhatsApp groups in different cities reminded me how many ways people say the same thing. If you’re curious, I scatter trip notes and group stories in my travel section. You’ll see how I talk about communities in the wild, not just in a tidy office doc.

Real slips I’ve made (learn from my pain)

The report that wasn’t

I shipped a quarterly update titled “The community’s Q3 wins,” then spent the next week explaining why it only covered one program. Because… the title said one. People read fast. They don’t parse nuance. I retitled to “Q3 wins across our communities.” Fewer DMs. Better vibes.

The forum banner that confused everyone

We wrote “The communities’ rules have changed,” when only one group changed them. People panicked. One word, one apostrophe. That’s how fast trust slips. We fixed it in five minutes, but the comments took a week to calm down. Fun times.

Little editing checklist you can steal

• Do I mean one group or many? Say “community” or “communities.”
• Is there ownership? If yes, add the apostrophe in the right place.
• Does a rewrite avoid confusion? Often yes.
• Did I accidentally write “communitys”? Fix to “communities.”
• Is the audience internal or public? Be extra clear if public.

Phrase spot check (try these in your head)

Good

• Our community’s meetup is tonight.
• Two communities planned a joint event.
• The communities’ budgets were approved.

Not great

• Our communitys meetup is tonight. (No.)
• The community’s are growing fast. (That’s mixing forms.)
• All community’s rules must be followed. (Do you mean all communities?)

A quick word on tone, because writing is a social thing

When I write for groups, I pretend I’m talking to one person who cares, not a crowd that skims. It helps me pick the right form without overthinking. I’ll type “our community’s welcome guide” when I’m speaking about one space. If I’m writing across the whole network, it turns into “resources for all communities.” Sometimes I’ll dodge the possessive drama and just say “resources for community leaders.” No lost meaning. Less noise.

The phrase you came here for, answered bluntly

If your question is literally “community’s or communities,” here’s the short answer. Use community’s when one community owns something. Use communities when you mean more than one community. If many communities own something, it’s communities’ with the apostrophe after the s. That’s the map. That’s it.

And yes, one last sanity check

When I can’t decide in a rush, I plug the noun into a sentence with “of.” If “of the community” makes sense, I might use community’s. If “of the communities” makes sense, maybe it’s communities’ or just communities without possession. It’s a quick brain hack that has saved me from writing forehead-slap sentences… well, most days.

A few questions I get in DMs

• Is “communities” ever written with an apostrophe? Only if you’re showing ownership, like “communities’ leaders.” Otherwise, plain “communities.”
• Can I write “communitys” as the plural? Nope. The plural is “communities.” The y turns into ies. Same as “city/cities.”
• What about “community’s members” vs “community members”? Both are fine. The first is possessive. The second is just a noun phrase. I use the shorter one if it reads clean.
• How do I pick between “community’s rules” and “community guidelines”? Style preference. “Guidelines” as a compound is smoother. I use that in headers.
• Do I need a different form for online vs offline groups? No. Same grammar. Whether it’s a Discord server or a neighborhood group, the rules stay the same.

FAQs from actual chats

• What’s the plural of community again? It’s “communities.” No apostrophe. Promise.
• When do I use community’s vs communities? Community’s shows one group owns something; communities is just more than one group.
• Is communities’ a real word or just grammar cosplay? It’s real. It’s the plural possessive. As in “the communities’ budgets.”
• Why do people add apostrophes to make plurals? Habit, fear, and the urge to decorate. Don’t. Apostrophes show possession (or contractions), not plain plurals.
• Can I avoid possessives and still sound normal? Yes. Rewrite: “rules for the community,” “leaders from different communities,” “feedback from members.”

Anyway. That’s the spiel. I’ll keep fixing banners and emails that mess this up, because that’s the job some days. If you remember nothing else: one group owning something is community’s, more than one group is communities, and if many groups own it, it’s communities’. Now I’m going to close Slack before it pings again.

Lucas

Hey, I’m Lucas. My blog explores the patterns and connects the dots between tech, business, and gaming. If you’re a curious mind who loves to see how different worlds intersect, you’re in the right place.