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SeekerSFN Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Goddess's or goddess'?

Plural nouns with an "s", for example,teachers, will be written as “teachers' ”in the possessive case. But I'm not sure how to decide the word goddess, when it's in the possessive case. I searched it on the net, surprisingly the form "goddess's" won... Why? Since it already has two s in the rear, why should we add the third s to it?
  

Top answer

SeekerSFN Since it already has two s in the rear, why should we add the third s to it? A singular genitive is usually formed by adding 's to a word. If you do that, you get, goddess's: This goddess's name is...

— Cool Breeze

  • SeekerSFN Since it already has two s in the rear, why should we add the third s to it?
  • A singular genitive is usually formed by adding 's to a word.
  • If you do that, you get, goddess's: This goddess's name is...
  • Probably because there has never been a Language Academy in any Anglo-Saxon country to deal with "incorrect" or inconsistent usage, there are some exceptions.
  • Especially classical names like Socrates behave differently: Socrates' wisdom.
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5 Answers
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SeekerSFNSince it already has two s in the rear, why should we add the third s to it?
A singular genitive is usually formed by adding 's to a word. If you do that, you get, goddess's: This goddess's name is...

Probably because there has never been a Language Academy in any Anglo-Saxon country to deal with "incorrect" or inconsistent usage, ther
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I remember having a huge fight with my (now 25-year-old) daughter's fifth grade teacher about this -- I insisted that in the phrase "the boss's desk," if you wanted to pronounce "boss's" with two syllables you absolutely needed the third "s." She disagreed. That parent-teacher relationship did not end happily.
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I mean the Word is singular and it ends with an S.

The Goddess went to the lake.

The Goddess look at the lake.

It was the Goddess's lake. You need the extra s because it isn't the Goddess's name right?

If you name the Goddess then she doesn't have any problems. I think you add a third S lol.

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It is goddesses because goddesse's means goddesses is.

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In making possessives from plural nouns in "-s", if you would say the additional ess, write it. If not, don't. That sounds dumb, but it works in practice. I defy anyone to come up with a case where that fails.

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