Apostrophes with Words Ending in s

While normal people wonder about apostrophes in general, believe it or not, word nerds have heated arguments over whether to use an additional s with singular possession. In this newsletter, you will get the standard, most popular decision among authorities. Rule: To show singular possession for a word ending in an s or s sound, use the apostrophe and another s. Examples: the classs opinion (one class), a basss stripes, Mar s theories, !ic"enss novels Rule: To show plural possession of a word ending in an s or s sound, form the plural first# then immediately use the apostrophe. Examples: the classes opinions, the basses stripes, the Williamses car, the $oos house, the Mar es children Quiz %lace the apostrophe (and perhaps an s) where appropriate. &. The classes opinions were predictable according to their grade levels. '. The lasses clothing differed according to their sewing s"ills. (. The lass clothing showed her sewing s"ills. ). The class suggestion to go to the science museum was approved by the teacher. *. The +oneses house survived the flood. ,. The -rosses dog bit the mailman. .. The $miths boat san". /. 0le rooster wo"e us up at dawn.

Answers

&. The classes opinions were predictable according to their grade levels. '. The lasses clothing differed according to their sewing s"ills. (. The lasss clothing showed her sewing s"ills. ). The classs suggestion to go to the science museum was approved by the teacher. *. The +oneses house survived the flood. ,. The -rosses dog bit the mailman. .. The $miths boat san". /. 0le s rooster wo"e us up at dawn. I wonder at the use of apostrophe in genitive. 1.g. the e amples in my 2 ford 0dvanced dictionary say3 My friend's brother the waitress's apron King James's crown/James' crown The students' books the women's coats 4ow, I5ve learnt that if there5s an 5s5 at the end of a word you only put an apostrophe and no 5s5 at the end. 6owever, here 5waitress5s5 has an e tra 5s5 while 5students55 don5t. 7urther, the it says that you can say either 5+ames5s5 or 5+ames5.5 7rom this I understand that either3 a) 6ow you do it optional as long as you are consistent. b) &. If the word is singular, you must have an 5s5 after the apostrophe. '. If it is a name, you can choose whether or not to have an 5s5 after the apostrophe. (. If a word is plural, you are not to have an 5s5 after the apostrophe. It must be 8s first then apostrophe9

Many writers consider it bad form to use apostrophe -s possessives with pieces of furniture and buildings or inanimate objects in general. Instead of the des!"s edge #according to many authorities$% we should write the edge of the des! and instead of the hotel"s windows we should write the windows of the hotel. In fact% we would probably avoid the possessive altogether and use the noun as an attributive& the hotel windows. 'his rule #if% in fact% it is one$ is no longer universally endorsed. We would not say the radio of that car instead of that car"s radio #or the car radio $ and we would not write the desire of my heart instead of my heart"s desire. Writing the edge of the s!i would probably be an improvement over the s!i"s edge% however. (or e)pressions of time and measurement% the possessive is shown with an apostrophe -s& one dollar"s worth% two dollars" worth% a hard day"s night% two years" e)perience% an evening"s entertainment% and two wee!s" notice #the title of the *ollywood movie nothwithstanding$.

The correct use of plural and possessive forms may seem li"e a minor issue. 0mong educated persons, however, incorrect forms, especially misuses of apostrophes, stand out li"e red flags. 2ne area e ecutive has said he will not hire an applicant whose letter or resume includes such an error. Plural forms The plural form of a noun indicates simply that there are more than one of the person or thing in :uestion. 7or most nouns, the plural form includes the letter ;s; at the end of the word3 !ogs Trees Turtles Nouns ending in s, z, ch, sh, and x 4ouns with these letters at the end call for an ;es; in the plural form. This added syllable ma"es pronunciation easier. beaches fo es wishes

Nouns ending in o $ome nouns ending in o are plurali<ed with an ;s,; while others call for ;es.; These words must be memori<ed, because there is no simple rule to e plain the differences.

echoes heroes potatoes vetoes autos memos pimentos pros

Nouns ending in y To form the plural of nouns ending in y, drop the y and add ;ies.; 7amily becomes families $tory becomes stories =aby becomes babies Irregular plural forms There are several other irregularities in the plural forms of 1nglish nouns. 6ere are e amples3 Man becomes men Woman becomes women 7ungus becomes fungi Thief becomes thieves (note that not all words ending in ;f; follow this pattern3 roof>roofs) $pecies remains species Medium becomes media %erson becomes people Plural forms and the apostrophe (=edford (,>6odges5) 0 common error is to form the plural of a noun by adding ;5s; to the singular form. Try to get out the habit of doing this. 0 tric" for remembering that the apostrophe signifies the plural is that possessive means ;having,; and so the posessive form of the word ;has; an apostrophe. 6ow do you tell the difference in between plural and possessive? -hec" the meaning of the sentence. !oes the noun simply refer to more than one thing? 2r does the sentence mention something that belongs to the noun?

0lthough usage has changed in recent years, some handboo"s call for an apostrophe in the plural forms of numbers, letters, and words used as words3 6ow many 1's do we have in the line? We put x's on the incorrect answers. The no's resounded loudly throughout the chamber. Possessi e forms (=edford (,a>6odges5 &*a) 0 possessive form of a noun signifies that the noun owns something3 0 musician5s talent 0 woman5s ambition %ossessive forms call for a properly placed apostrophe. The placement is different for singular and plural nouns. 7or this reason, you must "now the correct singular and possessive nouns before you can ma"e them possessive. !ingular possessi e The possessive form of a singular noun is an apostrophe followed by the letter ;s.; @ramer5s hair !aphne5s patience the car5s engine Words ending with s, < or !r. $euss5 sense of humor Plural possessi e In order to place the apostrophe correctly in plural nouns, you must first be certain of the plural form. If you have :uestions about these forms, you may want to browse the section on plural nouns above. 7or plural nouns ending in ;s,; add only an apostrophe3 $ingers5 voices The cousins5 favorite uncle generally omit the ;s.;

7or plural nouns not ending in ;s,; add an apostrophe and ;s.; Men5s clothing -hildren5s boo"s "ompound nouns (=edford (,>6odges5 &*a() When a sentence indicates Aoint ownership in a compound construction, the possessive form is attached only to the second noun3 !eanna and =randi5s vacation plans Tim and =ethany5s wedding invitation 4ote that individual ownership is mar"ed by a double possessive3 -ourtney5s and Mem5s grade point averages Tim and =ethany share the same wedding invitation, whereas -ourtney and Mem each have their own grade point averages. #utorial Her family's/families guest house accommodates 20 people.
&. '. (. ). *. ,. .. /. B. &C. &&. &'. &(. &). &*. The singers/singer's agreed to dress in black. Three families/family's rented an oceanfront villa. Can you see my sisters/sister's car in the driveway !our critics'/critics recommended the book. "ociety's/"ocieties' definition of gender roles has changed. #fter the triplets were born$ our house was filled with baby's/babies' cries. Cara and "usan's/Cara's and "usan's pro%ect impressed the professor. The women's/womens' former neighbor dropped by to visit. &ot all children's/childrens' shows are violent. 'o all of your wishes/wishes' come true Can a novel really have two different heroes/heros (ater the trees/tree's$ but not every day. The sound of horses' hoofs/hooves rattled the glass. )ou must consider other's/others' feelings before embarrassing them for an easy laugh.

&. $er family%s&families guest house accommodates '( people) -orrect answer3 family5s This is the singular possessive form. It describes the guest house owned by one family. 7amilies is the plural form of family.

'. #he singers&singer%s agreed to dress in *lac+. -orrect answer3 singers ingers serves as the plural subAect of this sentence. inger's is the singular possessive form. 0 correct usage is as follows3 The singer5s voice has an unusual range. (. #hree families&family%s rented an oceanfront -orrect answer3 families !amilies is the plural subAect of the sentence. The incorrect choice is the singular possessive form. It can modify an obAect that belongs to one family, as in the family5s beach house mentioned in :uestion ). "an you see my sisters&sister%s car in the dri eway, -orrect answer3 sister5s The correct choice is the singular possessive form. It describes the car belonging to one sister. isters with no apostrophe is the plural form. *. -our critics%&critics recommended the *oo+) -orrect answer3 critics This sentence calls for a plural subAect, not a possessive form. The apostrophe in critics' suggests that this is a possessive form. It is illa)

the incorrect choice because the sentence does not refer to anything owned by the critics. ,. !ociety%s&!ocieties% definition of gender roles has changed) -orrect answer3 $ociety5s The correct form is the singular possessive, while the incorrect form is the plural possessive. The plural form does not ma"e sense logically, because there is only one definition. .. After the triplets were *orn, our house was filled with *a*y%s&*a*ies% cries) -orrect answer3 babies5 The mention of triplets suggests that there is more than one baby crying in the house. 7or this reason, the plural possessive form babies' is correct. /. "ara and !usan%s&"ara%s and !usan%s pro.ect impressed the professor) -orrect answer3 -ara and $usan5s 0 compound subAect that shows Aoint ownership of an obAect calls for one apostrophe after the second subAect. The first part of the compound subAect remains in the subAective case, with no apostrophe. If -ara and $usan had done separate proAects, it would be correct to refer to them as ;-ara5s and $usan5s proAects.; B. #he women%s&womens% former neigh*or dropped *y to isit) -orrect answer3 women5s When choosing the plural possessive form of any noun, determine the plural form first. The singular noun woman becomes women. (It is a common error to use women for both singular and plural. To

avoid this error, consider the singular form man and its plural, men.) 0fter you have formed the plural, use the rules to determine the correct placement of the apostrophe. "omen does not end in ;s,; so its plural form calls for an apostrophe followed by ;s.; &C. Not all children%s&childrens% shows are iolent) -orrect answer3 children5s Di"e man and woman, children ta"es an irregular plural form. =ecause its plural form does not end in the letter ;s,; an ;s; must be added after the apostrophe. 0lthough the plural form is irregular, the possessive form follows the standard rules. &&. /o all of your wishes&wishes% come true, -orrect answer3 wishes This is a plural form. There is no need for a possessive in this sentence, because nothing belongs to the wishes. &'. "an a no el really ha e two different heroes&hero0s, -orrect answer3 heroes #eroes is the plural form of the noun hero. It follows the rule that calls for the addition of ;es; to nouns ending in an ;o; preceded by a consonant. The #odges' #arbrace #andbook (&/d*) illustrates some e ceptions to this rule. &(. 1ater the trees&tree%s, *ut not e ery day) -orrect answer3 trees There is nothing unusual about the plural form of tree. This sentence refers to multiple trees, not to anything belonging to them. &). #he sound of horses% hoofs&hoo es rattled the glass)

-orrect answer3 hooves With a few e ceptions, the plural form of nouns ending in ;f; is ;es.; 2ne e ception is roof>roofs. &*. 2ou must consider other%s&others% feelings *efore em*arrassing them for an easy laugh) -orrect answer3 others5 The pronoun them which appears later in the sentence indicates that the feelings of more than one person are being discussed. The apostrophe of the plural possessive form is added to the end of the plural form.