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EyeSeeYou Posted 10 years ago
Speech & Pronunciation
Possessives of names ending in S
Correct me if I'm wrong:
1) 's or just ' are interchangeable, it's a matter of preference
2) 's or ' are only used with living beings such as humans, animals; and also with cities and countries.
3) the possessive with names and surnames with final S are pronounced /iz/. Or does this apply to countries, cities, towns as well?
1) 's or just ' are interchangeable, it's a matter of preference
2) 's or ' are only used with living beings such as humans, animals; and also with cities and countries.
3) the possessive with names and surnames with final S are pronounced /iz/. Or does this apply to countries, cities, towns as well?
Top answer
EyeSeeYou 1) 's or just ' are interchangeable, No. EyeSeeYou 2) 's or ' are only used with living beings such as humans, animals; and also with cities and countries. No.
- EyeSeeYou 1) 's or just ' are interchangeable, No.
- EyeSeeYou 2) 's or ' are only used with living beings such as humans, animals; and also with cities and countries.
- No.
- 'S is used for the possessive of all singular nouns, and for plural nouns that do not already end in -s , except for a remnant of classical proper names ( Jesus', Moses', Socrates ') that end in -s .
- The apostrophe alone is used only for plural nouns that end in -s.
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6 Answers
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EyeSeeYou1) 's or just ' are interchangeable,No.
EyeSeeYou2) 's or ' are only used with living beings such as humans, animals; and also with cities and countries.No.
'S is used for the possessive of all singular nouns, and for plural nouns that do not already end in -s, except for a remnant of classi
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The http://www.economist.com/style-guide/apostrophes for the Economist (magazine) states:
Although singular in other respects, the United States, the United Nations, the Philippines, etc, have a plural possessive apostrophe: eg, Who will be the United States' next preside
Although singular in other respects, the United States, the United Nations, the Philippines, etc, have a plural possessive apostrophe: eg, Who will be the United States' next preside
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I see.
What's odd is I don' see written "Paris' streets"; or hear the /iz/ sound.
It's Paris' or Paris's?
What's odd is I don' see written "Paris' streets"; or hear the /iz/ sound.
It's Paris' or Paris's?
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The Economist's style guide covers the singular possessive as follows:
Use the normal possessive ending 's after singular words or names that end in s: boss's, caucus's, Delors's, St James's, Jones's, Shanks's. Use it, too, after plurals that do not end in s: children's, Frenchmen's, media's.
Paris's outdoor cafes are very popular.
However, we can avoid problematic
Use the normal possessive ending 's after singular words or names that end in s: boss's, caucus's, Delors's, St James's, Jones's, Shanks's. Use it, too, after plurals that do not end in s: children's, Frenchmen's, media's.
Paris's outdoor cafes are very popular.
However, we can avoid problematic
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So the /iz/ sound applies only to plurals ending with /z/ sound that fall into the category of places and names?
The States's streets or Paris's streets don't suffer any modification in the pronunciation, they stay the same as if they were without the possessive S?
The States's streets or Paris's streets don't suffer any modification in the pronunciation, they stay the same as if they were without the possessive S?
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EyeSeeYouSo the /iz/ sound applies only to plurals ending with /z/ sound that fall into the category of places and names?No.
The pronunciation of an ending -s can be /s/ or /iz/ or /z/ depending on the immediately preceding sound. The fact that the word is a proper noun or not makes no difference.
monkeys (/z/)
churches ( /iz/)
aunts (
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