<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on The Chicago Manual of Style<\/em> (sixteenth edition)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singular nouns<\/strong>: Add an apostrophe and an s<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plural nouns<\/strong> (regular): Add an apostrophe only.

Examples<\/strong>: the girl’s car; the girls’ cars. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This general rule also applies to singular and plural forms of proper nouns, including names ending in s<\/em>,x<\/em>, or z<\/em>, even if these letters are unpronounced<\/span>.

Examples<\/strong>: James’s house; Marx’s writings; Jesus’s teachings; Berlioz’s works; Camus’s early work; Descartes’s philosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Classical names<\/strong> (same rules apply): Euripides’s tragedies; the Ganges’s source; Xerxes’s armies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EXCEPTIONS <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Possessive of nouns plural in form, but singular in meaning<\/strong> (including the name of a place, organization or publication): Add an apostrophe only. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples<\/strong>: politics’ true meaning; this species’ first record; the United States’ position on this topic; the Botanical Gardens’ new head gardener; the Seychelles’ tourist attractions.


Some particuliarities of the possessive<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joint possession<\/strong>: Only the second element takes the apostrophe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Examples<\/strong>: John and Mary’s house; Gilbert and Sullivan’s musicals.

Not joint possession<\/strong>: Belfast’s and Dublin’s transportation systems; John’s and Mary’s cars.
<\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Based on The Chicago Manual of Style (sixteenth edition) Singular nouns: Add an apostrophe and an s. Plural nouns (regular):…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P3aM3S-Xi","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwidewriting.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3676"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwidewriting.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwidewriting.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldwidewriting.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldwidewriting.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3676"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/worldwidewriting.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3677,"href":"https:\/\/worldwidewriting.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3676\/revisions\/3677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldwidewriting.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}