Should I use peoples or people's?
Determining whether to use "peoples" or "people's" depends entirely on the grammatical context of your sentence and whether you are expressing plural possession or referring to multiple distinct ethnic groups. The word "people" is already an irregular plural noun representing multiple persons, meaning adding an "s" to form "peoples" creates a valid plural form used strictly to describe distinct national, ethnic, or cultural groups (e.g., "the indigenous peoples of the region"). On the other hand, "people's" uses an apostrophe followed by an "s" to indicate possessive ownership belonging to a group of individuals (e.g., "the people's voice" or "a people's champion"). You should never use "peoples" as a possessive form, as apostrophes are strictly required for possession in this context. Evaluating the intended meaning of your sentence will immediately clarify whether you need the group plural "peoples" or the possessive "people's".
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