Blast From the Past: Possessives with names/words ending in "s"
The apostrophe (') may be the simplest and yet most frequently misused mark of punctuation in English. It was introduced into English in the 16th century from Latin and Greek, in which it served to mark the loss of letters.
And as editor Tom McArthur notes in The Oxford Companion to the English Language, "There was never a golden age in which the rules for the use of the possessive apostrophe in English were clear-cut and known, understood, and followed by most educated people."
This subject was covered in 2008 by green_grrl, here. She used the cast of SG1 to help her; I'm using The Sentinel.
At one time, a possessive was marked by the addition of 'es', so that someone might write 'The boyes coat was black.' From there it was a fairly short step to replacing the 'e' with an apostrophe. (Many years ago I found a claim that 'es' was in itself a simplification of 'The boy, his coat' but I can't find any reference to that anywhere now.)
The problem arises with words ending in s.
If it's a straight plural, it's easy - the apostrophe goes after the s. 'The boys' coats were black.' 'The ladies' shoes in the shop had been reduced to half price.' The apostrophe in the sign saying (incorrectly) 'Ripe apple's' is often referred to as 'the greengrocer's apostrophe'. It makes a possessive out of a plural word and is, unfortunately, horrifyingly common.
However, when it's a name that ends in s, it becomes a little more complicated, and to a certain extent there's no right or wrong way.
When I was learning punctuation, more years ago than I care to remember, we were taught that if a name ended in s, the possessive took an apostrophe after the s. No additional s, end of lesson. Today, however, it's become a little more complicated.
Some authorities say that although names ending in s or an s sound are not required to have the second s added in possessive form, it is preferred. According to the University of Bristol's English department's style guide, proper nouns that end in -s add an apostrophe plus s when you would naturally pronounce an extra s if you said the word out loud: 'Have you seen James' book' would become 'Have you seen James's book?' if you say it as 'Jameses book'. Therefore -
Jim went into Simon Banks's office.
But - as always - there are exceptions; personal names that end in -s but are not spoken with an extra s just add an apostrophe after the -s:
Much to Jim's satisfaction, the court dismissed Bridges' appeal.
Blair shook his head as he read through the various essays he was grading. Had these students never been taught how to use apostrophes? Several of the essays referred to Marshall Sahlins' 1966 paper that claimed hunter-gatherers worked shorter hours and enjoyed more leisure time than farming communities, and almost all of them referred to Marshall Sahlin's paper... He would, he decided, have accepted Marshall Sahlins's paper. He didn't think the extra 's' was needed, but he would have accepted it. After the second incorrect use of the apostrophe, he determined that the next lecture he gave this class would be on the importance of correct punctuation.
Proper nouns that are Latin, Greek or Hebrew in origin only take the apostrophe.
Odysseus' adventures
Pythagoras' theorem
Jesus' disciples
Other occasions that only use the apostrophe are names of places or organizations, for example: St Thomas' Hospital
Additionally, there are some names where adding 'es' makes the usage clumsy - Xerxes' army sounds fine, Xerxeses' army begins to sound like perseverance, as if you've forgotten where to stop the word.
So for plurals, the possessive apostrophe comes after the s, and there's never an additional s; for names ending in s, either s' or s's is correct, though nowadays s's is preferred; but the important thing is to be consistent.
http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_10.htm
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/apostrophe
My Grammar and I, Taggart & Wines, pub. Michael O'Mara Books Ltd
You Have a Point There by Eric Partridge, pub Routledge
(Both books available from Amazon)
And as editor Tom McArthur notes in The Oxford Companion to the English Language, "There was never a golden age in which the rules for the use of the possessive apostrophe in English were clear-cut and known, understood, and followed by most educated people."
This subject was covered in 2008 by green_grrl, here. She used the cast of SG1 to help her; I'm using The Sentinel.
At one time, a possessive was marked by the addition of 'es', so that someone might write 'The boyes coat was black.' From there it was a fairly short step to replacing the 'e' with an apostrophe. (Many years ago I found a claim that 'es' was in itself a simplification of 'The boy, his coat' but I can't find any reference to that anywhere now.)
The problem arises with words ending in s.
If it's a straight plural, it's easy - the apostrophe goes after the s. 'The boys' coats were black.' 'The ladies' shoes in the shop had been reduced to half price.' The apostrophe in the sign saying (incorrectly) 'Ripe apple's' is often referred to as 'the greengrocer's apostrophe'. It makes a possessive out of a plural word and is, unfortunately, horrifyingly common.
However, when it's a name that ends in s, it becomes a little more complicated, and to a certain extent there's no right or wrong way.
When I was learning punctuation, more years ago than I care to remember, we were taught that if a name ended in s, the possessive took an apostrophe after the s. No additional s, end of lesson. Today, however, it's become a little more complicated.
Some authorities say that although names ending in s or an s sound are not required to have the second s added in possessive form, it is preferred. According to the University of Bristol's English department's style guide, proper nouns that end in -s add an apostrophe plus s when you would naturally pronounce an extra s if you said the word out loud: 'Have you seen James' book' would become 'Have you seen James's book?' if you say it as 'Jameses book'. Therefore -
Jim went into Simon Banks's office.
But - as always - there are exceptions; personal names that end in -s but are not spoken with an extra s just add an apostrophe after the -s:
Much to Jim's satisfaction, the court dismissed Bridges' appeal.
Blair shook his head as he read through the various essays he was grading. Had these students never been taught how to use apostrophes? Several of the essays referred to Marshall Sahlins' 1966 paper that claimed hunter-gatherers worked shorter hours and enjoyed more leisure time than farming communities, and almost all of them referred to Marshall Sahlin's paper... He would, he decided, have accepted Marshall Sahlins's paper. He didn't think the extra 's' was needed, but he would have accepted it. After the second incorrect use of the apostrophe, he determined that the next lecture he gave this class would be on the importance of correct punctuation.
Proper nouns that are Latin, Greek or Hebrew in origin only take the apostrophe.
Odysseus' adventures
Pythagoras' theorem
Jesus' disciples
Other occasions that only use the apostrophe are names of places or organizations, for example: St Thomas' Hospital
Additionally, there are some names where adding 'es' makes the usage clumsy - Xerxes' army sounds fine, Xerxeses' army begins to sound like perseverance, as if you've forgotten where to stop the word.
So for plurals, the possessive apostrophe comes after the s, and there's never an additional s; for names ending in s, either s' or s's is correct, though nowadays s's is preferred; but the important thing is to be consistent.
http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/exercises/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_10.htm
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/apostrophe
My Grammar and I, Taggart & Wines, pub. Michael O'Mara Books Ltd
You Have a Point There by Eric Partridge, pub Routledge
(Both books available from Amazon)