Ask-A-Linguist Message Details
| Subject: | 's following a noun ending in 's' |
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| Question: |
Should there be an extra s at the end of the possessive case of a singular noun ending in s? For example, is Xanadu 2.0 Bill Gates's house or Bill Gates' house? (I pronounce it as Bill Gates's house, but how should I spell it?) Should we pray in Jesus's name or in Jesus' name? |
| Reply: |
This is a usage question rather similar to the recent one we had about 'an historic occasion'. Most style guides would cover this issue -- for example Pam Peters has a balanced discussion in The Cambridge Guide to Australian Usage (Australia's no different from anywhere else on this, and most other usage questions). <http://www.cambridge.org/aus/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521878210&ss=fro>; If a singular noun ends with the sound /s/, there is a choice in Standard English: 'Gates' house' or 'Gates's' house. This is a choice both in pronunciation and in writing. Some people feel passionately that one is right and the other is wrong. However, there are quite a few people who have learnt that 'Gates' house' is the only one that is right in writing, whatever you say. So there are a good many people who SAY 'Gates's house' and write 'Gates' house'. I just noticed recently that my old editions of the Rev Awdry's railway stories write about 'Thomas's branch line' whereas the current editions have 'Thomas' branch line'. This reflects a change in editorial policy. This change can be in either direction over time, depending on the individual preferences of whoever makes the decisions. Personally, I believe in going with the sound. I talk about 'Keats's poetry', so that's what I write too. I also wish that Standard Englosh orthography would give up the confusing and historically recent possessive apostrophe and go back to just using the apostrophe to show omissions. [Any of my students reading this should know that this doesn't mean I don't correct non-standard usage.] Anthea |
| Reply From: | Anthea Fraser Gupta click here to access email |
| Date: | 03-Jul-2012 |
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