I've always said, for example, "Achilles' shield" as "Achilles-es shield". However, I've noticed others don't pronounce the plural, simply just keep it as "Achilles". Should you pronounce the '-es', or is it not necessary?
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3Do you mean plural, or possessive? – Andrew Leach Mar 25 '15 at 16:34
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1For possessive you pronounce it - For example the Jones's house (i.e. the house of the family with the name Jones) is pronounced /ðə 'ʤoʊnz-ez haʊs/. Some people write the Jones' house but still you say /'ʤoʊnz-ez/ – Brandin Mar 25 '15 at 16:52
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2For plural possessive I would probably drop the final s sound, but I don't think it would be wrong to include it. It's a pretty rare combination. For example suppose there are two glasses with a mysterious looking liquid. You might say "I'm not quite sure about these glasses' contents." /ˈglæsez ˈkɑːnˌtɛnts/ (the /-ez/ sound is a plural marker, and the possessive 's marker should be written (either as ' or 's) but need not be pronounced in my opinion) – Brandin Mar 25 '15 at 16:57
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1@Brandin Or you don't pronounce it. Check the answers at the duplicate. Also, there is a tendency to write Jones' for the monosyllabic version. Again, check. – Edwin Ashworth Mar 25 '15 at 18:00
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Generally you do not pronounce an extra "es" for the possessive of a plural. "Jones's" is a interesting case which seems to contradict this, but really it's the house belonging to the Joneses, not the house belonging to Jones. For words ending with a S sound, though, there may be no simple rule. Certainly "Achilles's heel" is typically pronounced without the "es" sound, but "this glass's contents" would typically be pronounced with the "es" sound. – Hot Licks Mar 25 '15 at 18:02