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I'm not sure which of the following is correct:

having an impact on other’s lives

having an impact on others’ lives

I just can’t figure out how the apostrophe should be used.

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3 Answers 3

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19

Since you are talking about multiple others ("...the lives of others"), then the apostrophe comes after the s.

having an impact on others' lives

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1

If something is singular, for example, Bob. Then he is a person and we write

Bob's book.

Let us consider there are two Bobs and both of them share a single book.

The two Bobs' book

so others is plural. Consequently, the correct answer is

having an impact on others’ lives.

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0

Let's be simple.
I have many students, and one of them is John. I am checking exam copies.

  1. I am checking John's paper.

  2. I have checked all of my students' paper.

  3. One son went to live in Australia and the other one was killed in a car crash.

  4. One son went to live in Australia and the others were killed in a car crash.

others –> others' lives.

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    "I have checked all of my students' paper" doesn't make sense (it would only work if "paper" were being used as a mass noun). It would be better to write "I have checked all of my students' papers".
    – herisson
    Commented Oct 21, 2018 at 7:38

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