Where [if anywhere] should the apostrophe go in "three days work"?

Question

Which is correct?

1 Three day's work

2 Three days' work

3 Three days work

I would probably guess (2) is right, since the work belongs to the three days ("three days of work"). But I'm not sure. Would it be different if it was only one day?

score 28 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 09 '11 at 11:32

28

"Three days' work" is correct.

Yes, it would be different if it was one day: "one day's work" refers to a single day, so day would not be plural to start with.

answered Jun 09 '11 at 11:32

Robusto

151,571

2

Seems odd to think about a the work BELONGING TO the day. How can a day have work? Maybe I'm over-thinking this one :-) – Urbycoz Jun 09 '11 at 11:38
2

A day can have many things. It has a morning, an afternoon, an evening, a type of weather, and so on. – Robusto Jun 09 '11 at 11:48
Perhaps a day's worth of work might make more sense. But as in most cases, due to the lengthiness of phrases, we cut down on words cos other people understand us anyway ... :P – Thursagen Jun 09 '11 at 12:49
2

@Urbycoz - think of it as "work associated with a day" rather than "belonging to" if you like. – AAT Jun 09 '11 at 21:10
I'd probably choose the plural attributive in "He's got three days work next week" . We've had a discussion before about the current trend to drop the Saxon genitive in associative rather than possessive / 'of' structures. The writers' day was spent at the Writers Guild. – Edwin Ashworth Jun 22 '15 at 19:04

score 1 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

1

It's "three days' work" because of the fact that there are three days. As this is a plural, the apostrophe comes after "s" to distinguish it from a singular, which has the apostrophe come before the "s":

The cat's fur/ singular

The cats' meows/ plural

edited Jun 15 '20 at 07:40

Community

1

answered Jun 09 '11 at 11:37

Thursagen

41,919

Or even "The cat's fur/ singular" and "The cats' fur/ plural". – Urbycoz Jun 09 '11 at 11:40
You got it! :) :) – Thursagen Jun 09 '11 at 11:43
2

not to mention the cat's meows (single cat, plural meows) – mplungjan Jun 09 '11 at 11:43
Or the cat's litters' mess – Thursagen Jun 09 '11 at 11:46

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 10 '14 at 06:14

The second option, 'three days' work' is correct. Standard possessive form for a plural.

The construction is used to relate value of the work and the time spent on that work. "I did three days' work in two [days]" is an example. "I did a thousand dollars' work but was paid five hundred" follows the same pattern.

The standard possessive construction is used. The item being possessed is the implied value.

Where [if anywhere] should the apostrophe go in "three days work"?

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