How about adding 's to the name of a company that ends in s for a possessive? Is it the same guideline (go by how it would be pronounced)? Thanks.
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The rules are the same as for any nouns ending in "S." – Qaz Mar 10 '15 at 15:00
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Some company names already end in 's. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 10 '15 at 15:07
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It depends on the name. If it's a family name e.g. John Lewis, or a made up one e.g. Toys R Us. The recommendation might be to leave well alone. But otherwise it should be John Lewis's and Toys R Us's – Mari-Lou A Mar 10 '15 at 16:48
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What about something that McDonald's owns? Does it become McDonald's'? – Ian MacDonald Mar 10 '15 at 17:04
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In U.S. English, this depends largely on the style guide in use. When a single entity ending in "s" possesses something--say, Toys "R" Us--it can be written as
Toys "R" Us' products
or
Toys "R" Us's products
depending on whether you are using an AP-Stylebook-based approach (source, source) or a Chicago-based approach (Sec. 7.18, 15th ed.). If no one has specified style guidelines for you, either way is fine as long as you stay consistent.
Grammar Girl discusses this at some length here and agrees either way is correct.
She also discusses the McDonald's (McDonald's'? McDonald's's?) conundrum here. She says the same thing I would--find a way to rephrase!
Amanda
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