Which Is Correct for This Statement?

Question by kiwipike: Which is correct for this statement?
area’s or areas or areas’

The [areas] leader in sports rehabilitation and physical therapy

Best answer:

Answer by Pretzel
The area’s leader
To check, write in full: the leader of the area. “Of the area” = “area’s”
(areas is just the plural of area, and areas’ = “of the areas” (plural)

Answer by Alex M
If you want to split hairs, I don’t believe any ‘area’ is correct in this sentence. Here, the word ‘area’ would seem to be describing which ‘leader’ in question; in other words, ‘area’ is being used as an adjective. The adjectival form of area is areal. So, I would say that the correct sentence should read as follows: “The areal leader in sports rehabilitation and physical therapy…” because the focus in on the leader, not the area.

Using areal may seem snobbish since we don’t commonly use it. Unless you’re audience is comprised of English literary types, I would use the word area without any ‘s’ attached. You don’t want to indicate that it’s the area itself that has ownership, or that there’s more than one area being considered.

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