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I know that when we're talking about something that is possessed collectively by all children it is "children's". What about a scenario where one of the possessed nouns belongs to each individual child?

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    I think it's General Reference that childrens isn't a word in the first place, so it can't take a "possessive apostrophe".
    – FumbleFingers
    Commented Dec 13, 2013 at 1:58
  • Related.
    – tchrist ♦
    Commented Nov 18, 2023 at 20:22

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Well, childrens isn't a word, so it's still children's. Just one more ambiguity in the English language.

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    Where's the ambiguity? In the men's (or women's) room?
    – Robusto
    Commented Dec 13, 2013 at 1:46
  • @Robusto 'Children' is the plural of 'child'. So 'childrens' makes no sense.
    – user59639
    Commented Dec 13, 2013 at 2:57
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    @Robusto like the OP said, does "children's blankets" mean each child has a blanket or the children share some blankets? Men's room is clear, there's one room that belongs to (in this case is used by) multiple men. The equivalent to this question would be men's rooms, do the men own rooms individually or collectively? Though thinking about it, even normal plural possessives don't really make that distinction.
    – Kevin
    Commented Dec 13, 2013 at 15:04
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    To denote that every child had a blanket say: "each child's blanket".
    – Mari-Lou A
    Commented Dec 13, 2013 at 21:45
  • source for this answer?
    – public wireless
    Commented Apr 12, 2020 at 3:46

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