Hi assuming you have a name like Cross, Tess or Ross. What is the correct way of writing including the apostrophe assuming the owner is a singular entity?
Eg.
Ross's apples Ross'es apples
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You would never use "Ross'es". The apostrophe/apostrophe s shows possession, the es (in some cases) shows plural. There is no instance when 'es is correct. – nxx Jan 21 '14 at 00:32
2 Answers
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You only use s' when the noun you are making possessive is plural. It's not enough for the noun to simply end in s, or even in ss: in those cases, you need an apostrophe followed by another s. So:
Mr. Jones's house
the Joneses' house
Mr. Ross's apples
the Rosses' apples
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To whom does the Jones' car belong? I have noticed that individual families with last names ending in -ss, -s, or -es develop their own usage patterns which I believe we should adopt on an individual basis. – Michael Owen Sartin Jan 20 '14 at 19:32
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I have downmarked this because I believe you are too dogmatic. There is in practice considerable latitude allowed. As for the ones you mention, I would not expect to be criticised for writing them as follows: 'Mr Jones' house'; the Joneses' house; Mr Ross' apples; the Rosses' apples. – WS2 Jan 20 '14 at 20:59
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@WS2 I would have thought that meant the belonging to the family with the name jones. The second example not correct and the last example meaning the apples belonging to a group of people named Ross (or Rosses) – Wes Jan 20 '14 at 22:24
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@WS2 That would be wrong. When you talk about the apples of Mr Ross, you add a syllable: hence it must be Mr Ross’s apples. And apostrophe is not sounded, and does not stand in for your "iz" sound. You actually have to write it. – tchrist Jan 20 '14 at 22:44
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@tchrist. That is just not true. There are many guides that advocate omitting the s after the apostrophe when a word ends in s. And that doesn't affect the pronunciation. It may even be a BrE vs AmE kind of thing. – nxx Jan 20 '14 at 22:55
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@nxx Just because a lot of people screw it up doesn't make it right. \ – tchrist Jan 20 '14 at 23:48
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You yourself have said in the previous question that is linked "there has never been a time in the history of the English language when all writers [...] agreed upon, any such rule." – nxx Jan 21 '14 at 00:00
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None of this changes my view about Mr Jones' apples, but on reflection I am also disinclined to write 'the Joneses'. What happens when the surname is Matthews? Do you write about 'the Matthewses'? I think not. Where a family name end in an s like that I think my way would be to speak and write of ' the Matthews family', 'the Jones family' and 'the Ross family'. In that case it becomes 'the house of the Jones family'. – WS2 Jan 21 '14 at 00:50
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2@WS2 But when you and I were young, "keeping up with the Joneses" was a widely-used phrase, cisatlantically, and nearly as popular on your side – StoneyB on hiatus Jan 21 '14 at 01:45
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@StoneyB If I were using that expression I would definitely say and write 'the Joneses'. But my problem is that I would be unlikely to say 'They are trying to keep up with the Matthewses'. I would have to say '...with the Matthews', or 'with the Matthews family' or something, even if their surname ended in an s. – WS2 Jan 21 '14 at 08:34
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@StoneyB Further, I would probably speak of the 'Joneses' house. But what if the name is Socrates? Would we speak of 'the Socrateses' house? You might but I am not sure if I would! – WS2 Jan 21 '14 at 08:42
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@WS2 To tell the truth, I probably wouldn't add -es to Mathews in speech or writing. But in the US at least, Ortiz is regularly pluralized Ortizes; and here's a plural Socrates. Perhaps we add -es only to final stressed syllables? – StoneyB on hiatus Jan 21 '14 at 12:42
