Genitive case and plural

AnonymousHello!

Please, which form is correct : the actress husband (or) the actress' husband ? And why?

What is th

Hi,

Please, which form is correct : the actress husband (or) the actress' husband ? And why? Neither. Say the actress's husband. Perhaps you are confused because 'actress' ends in s. You may be thinking of the plural situation, where we'd say The students' teacher without adding an s.

ClivePlease, which form is correct : the actress husband (or) the actress' husband ? And why? Neither. Say the actre

Hi,

Does it always have to be apostrophe and "s" when not in plural? Couldn't you say "James' car" without adding "s"?
In his book, Practical English Usage, Michael Swan notes that

'Singular names ending in -s usually have possessive forms in 's, especially in BrE. However, with many older, foreign and classica

Hi, Clive!

Thanks for your answer. But I have to confess that I'm too confused about it now, once I always heard: " the boy's mother" or the "students' school" for example. So could you please, explain me the reason why for 'the husband of the actress' , I have to write = the actress's husband , and not simply the actress' husband, for instanc

Thanks for your reply, Loojka!

Best wishes,

Andreas

Hi,

Thanks for your answer. But I have to confess that I'm too confused about it now, once I always heard: " the boy's mother" or the "students' school" for example. So could you please, explain me the reason why for 'the husband of the actress' , I have to write = the actress's husband , and not simply the actress' husband, for instance? And in

All right. Now, I see . Thank you very much , Clive!

Best wishes,

Andreas

From The Elements of Style:

Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding 's.

Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write,

Charles's friend

Burns's poems

the witch's malice

Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names ending in -es and -is, the possessive Jesus', and such forms as for consci