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Grammar
Course: Grammar > Unit 6
Lesson 5: Introduction to the possessivePossession for words ending in “s”
Do words that end in "s" still need _'s_ to show possession? David and Paige explain!
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- What about when something belongs to multiple individuals? For example
Do I write Jone's, Lisa's and Graham's idea? or Jone, Lisa and Graham's idea?(9 votes)- If a group of people work together to come up with one idea, then you would say:
- Jone, Lisa, and Graham's idea
(when they all "own" the same thing, you only need to put the apostrophe & "s" on the final name)
More examples:
- my aunt and uncle's house
- Jayden and Amaya's wedding
- Mom and Dad's new car
If they each had their own idea, then you would say:
- Jone's, Lisa's, and Graham's ideas
(when they each "own" different things, you need to put an apostrophe & "s" after every name)
More examples:
- Valentina's, Lorena's, and Ana Luiza's new dresses
- Nuria's and Yusuf's homework
- Conor's, Saoirse's, and PJ's jack-o'-lanterns
Hope this helps!(26 votes)
- https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/determiners/possession-john-s-car-a-friend-of-mine
When a first or second name ends in -s, we can either add ’ or ’s. It is more common to use ’ than ’s. When we speak, we usually pronounce the final part of the word as /zɪz/ or /sɪz/:
Is that James’ car? (or Is that James’s car?) (both usually pronounced /ˈdʒeɪmzɪz/)
I love Keats’ poetry. (or I love Keats’s poetry.) (both usually pronounced /ˈki:tsɪz/)(10 votes)- This comes from a reliable source, and makes great sense to me. You've found a great place from which to answer questions.(2 votes)
- Does this work for British English too? As I'm an O level student I need to abide by British English.(8 votes)
- Well, British English is very similar to American English. I started learning British English, but then switched to American English. They are very similar except for a few words that evolved differently.(6 votes)
- Im confused. My teacher at school said that if words end in "s", like collins to make it possesive would you add a "'s" or a "'". I think to add "'" that would make it plural. Right?(6 votes)
- When a word ends in "s" or a "z", it is made plural by the addition of "es". EXAMPLES bus>buses; Fuss>fusses; cross>crosses; fez>fezez.
You are confusing plural with possessive. When a word ends in "s", to make it possessive, one adds an apostrophe.
Jesus' cross. Russ' restaurant. Foxes' lairs.
Run this past your teacher for a clearer explanation.(6 votes)
- Atcan you have more s's in a sentence than 1 or is there a limit or what plz help :D 1:21(6 votes)
- There is no limit for any s's in the sentence. Jess's hat fell off the bus's windowpane, but Jess's friend caught it - this sentence is perfect according to the grammar. You are totally at liberty for how much times you use the s's, until you are correct according to grammar.(6 votes)
- Hello David and Paige,
The Purdue online writing lab indicates that when the noun is a building or an object there is no need to add an apostrophe :
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/621/1/
So, should we write "the bus's air conditoning system" or "the bus air conditioning system" ?
Thanks,(6 votes)- In your second example however, omitting any sign of the possessive makes the word bus an adjective instead of a possessor. Personally, I prefer the way I was taught in school: to mark the possessive with an apostrophe if the word ends in an
s
, and with an's
otherwise. This is how it looks in practice:
A dog drank the cat's milk.
The bus' AC stopped working.
My parents' friends came over.
James' girlfriend dumped him.(4 votes)
- I learned that you write it as "Boris' hair was curly." I'm curious if you can explain if there is a definitive grammar rule, or this is one of those sorts of "oxford comma" situations on preferences.(6 votes)
- I suppose it might depend on whether the final sound is more like an "s" or a "z".
Try these. James has a house. It is James's house.
James has a house. It is James' house.
Jesus had 12 disciples. They were Jesus' disciples.
Natasha was married to Boris. She was Boris' wife.
The Sands Hotel was on the beach. It was the Sands's beach.
The Sands Hotel was on the beach. It was the Sands' beach.(4 votes)
- What about James I thought you just put an '(6 votes)
- I am confused. My teacher's taught me that you could do either Jess's or Jess'. Can you still do Jess'?(4 votes)
- That would depend on whether or not you are writing for your teacher or not.(4 votes)
- why doesn't Jesus' have an "s"(4 votes)
- The lesson is about the possessive forms of words that end in "s". "Jesus" ends in an "s", so, I guess, the reason for that is explained in the lesson. Maybe you should listen again.(2 votes)
Video transcript
- [Voiceover] Hello
Grammarians, hello Paige. - [Paige] Hi David. - [David] We're talking about possession for names or words ending in the letter S. There's some confusion, I think, about what to do if you've got to make someone's name possessive
if their name ends in an S, for example, my friend Jess. If we're talking about Jess, and we're talking about
something that belongs to her, like Jess's hat. We know that there should
be an apostrophe in there, but should there also be an S? The answer is, yes. There had been some debate
over this for some time, but now, let me tell you, the
answer is yes, Jess's hat. - [Paige] Right, it seems
like a lot of Esses in a row, but it's important for understanding what someone's trying to say. - [David] Mm-hm, the same
thing happens regardless, it can be for words ending in S, like bus. So if we said, "The air
conditioning on this bus is broken," We could say instead to make
it a little bit shorter, "The bus's air conditioning is broken." Again, we're just taking all
of that information about the air conditioning
that belongs to the bus, all of that is just sort of
being bundled up into this apostrophe S. It doesn't matter that bus
already ends with an S, this works the same as any other word, we're just gonna say, "bus's." If we wanted to talk
about the chili culture of the state of Texas, for example, we would say, "Texas's chili culture." - [Paige] Yeah, so it's
exactly the same as any other singular word even though it ends in S, you still need another S. - [David] So just add an apostrophe S, and if you didn't know, now you know. That's how you form the possessive for names or words ending in S. You can learn anything, David out, - [Paige] Paige out.