First an anecdote. Then a topic.

 

The anecdote: My wife and I often pass a used-car lot with a big sign that reads LARRYS’ (ending in an apostrophe). In our smug, professorial way, we assumed that the owner was confused about punctuation, and we jokingly referred to the place as Larry-ziz. As we later learned, the lot is owned by two guys named Larry, who knew their punctuation after all. We still call it Larry-ziz, though.

 

The topic: English usage mavens are divided about the treatment of possessive nouns ending in s. Style sheets all agree that a word ending in plural -s takes only an apostrophe for the possessive: the families’ homes, several students’ homework.

 

They are not in agreement, however, about the possessive form of nonplural nouns ending in s. Do you add just an apostrophe or apostrophe + s? Is it “Britney Spears’ monumental talent” or “Britney Spears’s monumental talent”? Some style sheets stipulate apostrophe + s for short nouns (Lois’s friends) and only apostrophe for longer ones (Socrates’ death). The division among authorities in this matter means places a burden on faculty. So what do we teach?

 

On the grounds that simple is better than complicated, I tell students to use a sound test. If you hear the iz sound in such words, add ’s. Otherwise, just apostrophe. So it’s Ms. Jones’s house (pronounced Jones-iz). But what’s the possessive of Socrates? If you say “Sock-ra-teez-iz death,” then it’s Socrates’s; if you say “Sock-ra-teez death,” then it’s just Socrates’. By the way, I understand there is a St. James’s Park in London (pronounced with the iz) and a St. James’ Park in Newcastle (no iz).

 

Of course apostrophe use is never simple. Consider, for example, ‘Do’s and Don’ts.” But that’s another topic.

 

Dick Veit

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Richard Veit
Department of English
University of North Carolina Wilmington