Singular Possessive - what's up?

[Myra]

Okay -

We're studying myths & everywhere we turn the singular possessive is just add an apostrophe if a singualr nout ends with s.Zeus becomes Zeus'..

 

Now that's not what I've learned (and taught!) ... I thought the rule was when making a singular noun possissive then you always add 's even if the noun ending with s. Zeus would be Zeus's.

 

Even my microsoft spell checker is marking Zeus's wrong.

 

So please educate me!

 

Thanks,

Myra

[katilac]

Yes, that's the way my kids' grammar book teaches it - no additional s. Over the years, I have seen it taught both ways, but it looks like Single S is going to win this death match. I'd say it's the standard now.

[asta]

Yeah, kid and I got into a cage match the other day about this. I was telling him he was wrong about s' and he was saying I was wrong about s's.

 

I'm starting to think I'm just old.

 

 

a

[AngieW in Texas]

When I was a kid, I was taught s' for singular possessives. I disagreed and did it the way that I thought made the most sense, even though the teacher always marked me wrong. Most of the grammar books out now say s's.

 

If you want to say that a book belongs to Chris, you actually pronounce that extra s and say Chris's book rather than Chris' book.

[Tullia]

I was taught s' for singular possessives ending in s, but our local newspaper editor routinely changes s' to s's on the basis that it's now the more accepted usage... reason given is that it's more consistent.

 

I have mixed feelings, but since I consider myself more a descriptive than prescriptive grammarian (to the limited extent that I understand grammar at all) perhaps the change is a reasonable one. However, I still use s', grumble at the spell checker, and ignore it whenever I feel like doing so.

 

I started first grade in 1960 when the prevailing philosophy was a strict prescriptive rule-book conception of grammar. I have a friend who started school in 1950 whose fingers itch for her blue pencil when she sees the s's. I don't think it's possible to freeze language usage and mechanics rules, though, so I don't try to hold onto outmoded forms too tightly. I do still cringe at the misuse of the word gender, though.

Edited October 25, 2009 by Martha in NM
clarify

[elegantlion]

I always get confused on that rule as well. Here's what I dug up from three grammar resources:

 

Harvey's Grammar (copyright 1880) says "When the noun denotes but one object, the letter s follows the apostrophe; as in John's, Moses's." (section 29, part II, rem 3)

 

Warriner's English Grammar & Composition (copyright 1982) Chapter 23 Apostrophes "To form the possessive case of a singular noun add an apostrophe and an s. EXCEPTION: A proper name ending in s may add only an apostrophe if the name consists of two or more syllables or if the addition of 's would make the name awkward to pronounce. Example: Ulysses' (not Ulysses's) plan; Mrs. Rawlings' (not Mrs. Rawlings's) car."

 

Kid's Guide to the English Language (copyright 2002) singular possessive nouns "If the noun is singular; add 's to make it possessive. It doesn't matter what the last letter of the singular noun is. It could be s or even ss. Just add the 's to all singular nouns to make them show ownership. example: my boss's lampshade"

[Julie in MN]

I always figured it was optional. What you're really doing is adding 's but if it's awkward to say two /s/ sounds in a row, then custom allows us to drop the second sound.

 

I'm sure you can teach it whichever way you prefer and back it up with good reference books or online articles. Grammar is very logical but still is not an exact science (like most things in life). :)

 

JMHO,

Julie

[LizzyBee]

I always get confused on that rule as well. Here's what I dug up from three grammar resources:

 

Harvey's Grammar (copyright 1880) says "When the noun denotes but one object, the letter s follows the apostrophe; as in John's, Moses's." (section 29, part II, rem 3)

 

Warriner's English Grammar & Composition (copyright 1982) Chapter 23 Apostrophes "To form the possessive case of a singular noun add an apostrophe and an s. EXCEPTION: A proper name ending in s may add only an apostrophe if the name consists of two or more syllables or if the addition of 's would make the name awkward to pronounce. Example: Ulysses' (not Ulysses's) plan; Mrs. Rawlings' (not Mrs. Rawlings's) car."

 

Kid's Guide to the English Language (copyright 2002) singular possessive nouns "If the noun is singular; add 's to make it possessive. It doesn't matter what the last letter of the singular noun is. It could be s or even ss. Just add the 's to all singular nouns to make them show ownership. example: my boss's lampshade"

 

:iagree: But there is an exception for ancient names, so the final s would be left off of names such as Jesus and Zeus.

[Laurie4b]

Okay -

We're studying myths & everywhere we turn the singular possessive is just add an apostrophe if a singualr nout ends with s.Zeus becomes Zeus'..

 

Now that's not what I've learned (and taught!) ... I thought the rule was when making a singular noun possissive then you always add 's even if the noun ending with s. Zeus would be Zeus's.

 

Even my microsoft spell checker is marking Zeus's wrong.

 

So please educate me!

 

Thanks,

Myra

 

For ancient names: Zeus, Isis, and Jesus, it's just the apostrophe after the s. I think I got that from a recent college handbook--maybe MRA?

[Mary in MN]

in those ancient Greek names that makes that "don't add the s if the sound is awkward" rule apply. It is true that to my ear James's coat sounds right but Xerxes's cloak wouldn't.

 

I researched this extensively early in my career editing for an academic press, and the rule I follow is that Jesus and ancient Greek names ending in s don't get an 's; everything else does.