Possesive apostrophes

seun · Sep 29, 2006

I'm sure I read somewhere (it may have been Stephen King's On Writing) that names that end in S should be written as:

James's

when using a possesive apostrophe. I prefer a James'. Is this a definite rule either way?

PeeDee · Sep 29, 2006

I know that Steve King mentioned it in On Writing, but I've heard different points about this from a lot of people and therfore have no idea if it's definitive or not.

Honey, if that apostrophe's all possessive on ya'll, ya'll need-ter leave and git yo'self a REAL man!

JanDarby · Sep 29, 2006

Strunk & White calls for the apostrophe-s. The various style manuals (intended for non-fiction, but often applied to fiction) also call for the apostrophe-s.

The bottom line will be the house style for your publisher, but in the meantime I'd recommend apostrophe-s, because, first, it's the more common rule, and second, it's easier to remove (than to find the right spots and remove it) if the publisher wants it gone.

JD

Southern_girl29 · Sep 29, 2006

PeeDee said:
I know that Steve King mentioned it in On Writing, but I've heard different points about this from a lot of people and therfore have no idea if it's definitive or not.

Honey, if that apostrophe's all possessive on ya'll, ya'll need-ter leave and git yo'self a REAL man!

Take it from a Southern, it's spelled y'all. The apostrophe takes the place of the ou in you. :tongue

According to the AP Style Book, which I tend to go by because it's what I know, for plural nouns ending in s, add only an apostrophe. For singular nouns ending in s, add 's unless the next word begins with s. For singular proper names ending in s, add only the apostrophe.

seun · Sep 29, 2006

I've always thought that s's just looks horrible but then I have enough free time to worry about such things.

jchines · Sep 29, 2006

Depends on the publisher. Mine prefers s' over s's, which makes me happy, 'cause I like that better. Pick whatever you like, be consistent, and your publisher will change it if necessary.

ChaosTitan · Sep 29, 2006

I try to avoid character names that end in -s for this very reason. But when the name demands to end that way (for example, Matthias), I tend to use the apostrophe-s for possessives.

Becky Writes · Sep 29, 2006

I just try to avoid names like Charles Davis because of the whole possessive things. And since I write fiction, I can.

Neither way looks right to me, but I would probably do just an apostrophe. My grammar book from one of my college classes, A Writers's Reference says to use 's unless the name already has two s sounds close together, like Moses or Jesus.

MidnightMuse · Sep 29, 2006

I'm with Chaos - I'll go out of my way to avoid a character name ending in S whenever possible just because of that ! My own last name ends in S, though, so when I do have to use it, I tend to lean toward s' simply because it's not as ugly as s's.

maestrowork · Sep 29, 2006

It depends on the house style. A lot of publishers now prefers (at least for fiction) "James's" over "James'." However, it would be "nurses' station" instead of "nurses's station."

Aubrey · Sep 29, 2006

Aw, I just realised I have a character whose name ends in S. I'd better hope he doesn't own anything. That whole s's thing just looks so messy and cluttered to me. Writing it that way would give me that rubbing a cat's fur backwards feeling, where it feels unpleasent and looks silly.

PeeDee · Sep 29, 2006

Southern_girl29 said:
Take it from a Southern, it's spelled y'all. The apostrophe takes the place of the ou in you.

I know, that was the joke. That was probably a bit obscure, even for me, though, so do'nt worry. I'ts okay.

(mumblegrumble...'take it from a southern'...mumblegrumble...I'm from Louisiana, I'm southern as you get...mumblegrumble....)

Peggy · Sep 30, 2006

I've been wondering about this myself. "Charles's" and "James's" just doesn't look right to me even if they are technically correct. My instinct is to rewrite sentences so the possessive isn't needed when I can, sidestepping the issue altogether.

tigaseren · Sep 30, 2006

Not sure what publishing houses like but from a strict proper English position both are grammatically correct. s's is a more archaic use so not seen as much today but still grammatically proper. Since both are equally valid I try to go by what it sounds like. If its difficult to say the two 's's then I just stick with s' but if the name sounds okay with s's then I put it in. I have practice because my brother's name is Lucas. Lucas's sounds okay when you say it so that's how I would write it. But something like Mathius's is a tongue twister so I stay with Mathius'.

Possesive apostrophes

seun

Horror Man

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?

JanDarby

Southern_girl29

seun

Horror Man

jchines

Got the hang of it, here

ChaosTitan

Around

Becky Writes

Go Tarheels!

MidnightMuse

Midnight Reading

maestrowork

Fear the Death Ray

Aubrey

PeeDee

Where's my tea, please...?

Peggy

tigaseren