Forming the Possessives of English Nouns by Adding an Apostrophe Alone
When forming the possessive or genitive case of English nouns, an apostrophe (’) is almost always necessary. For singular possessive nouns the general rule is to add an ‘s’ along with the apostrophe to the end of each noun, but there are situations in which adding the apostrophe alone is the right choice.
Plural nouns that already end with an ‘s’ normally require only the addition of an apostrophe to form the possessive. ‘The dogs’ legs’ therefore refers to the legs of two or more dogs, whereas ‘the dog’s legs’ refers to the legs of one dog. The same is the case with the plurals of names and proper nouns, so ‘the Smiths’ office’ refers to the office that belongs to the Smiths. If it belonged to only one Smith, the correct form would be ‘Smith’s office.’ Please note, however, that plural nouns that do not already end in an ‘s’ usually require the addition of one along with the apostrophe, so ‘the men’s team’ shows a correct plural possessive.
Adding an apostrophe alone is also the right way in which to form possessives of plural acronyms and initialisms that end with an ‘s,’ so if KI stands for ‘key informant,’ the plural form would be KIs and the plural possessive would be exactly the same with the addition of an apostrophe, as in ‘the KIs’ responses were recorded.’ ‘The KI’s responses were recorded,’ on the other hand, indicates the responses of only one key informant. Plural dates that end with an ‘s’ are treated in the same way, so ‘the 1990s’ technological developments’ is correct when referring to developments that took place in the decade from 1990 to 1999.
There are also a number of singular nouns ending with an ‘s’ or an ‘s’ sound that require no more than an apostrophe to take on a possessive meaning. When, for instance, the extra ‘s’ would make the pronunciation of a singular noun that already ends with a ‘s’ difficult, the possessive is formed by adding an apostrophe only, as in ‘the oasis’ greenery.’ The same is the case when turning singular proper nouns and names that end with an ‘s’ sound into possessives if the additional ‘s’ would make pronunciation troublesome and particularly if the name is long and not accented on one of the last two syllables. This means that ‘Nicholas’ journal article’ is the correct form when referring to an article written by Nicholas. This procedure should also be followed when forming the possessives of singular names and proper nouns of two or more syllables in which the last syllable is pronounced ‘iz’ or ‘eez,’ so ‘Bridges’ writing’ refers to the writing of a person named Bridges. French nouns and names in the singular that end with a silent ‘s’ are treated similarly to avoid an awkward or misleading appearance, as is the case in ‘the marquis’ estate.’
Classical names ending with ‘s’ or ‘es’ are often transformed into possessives by adding only an apostrophe, so ‘Socrates’ argument’ is correct, but for short classical names the additional ‘s’ can be used, as it is in ‘Zeus’s anger.’ Singular nouns and names ending with an ‘s’ sound and used along with ‘sake’ also require the addition of an apostrophe alone, as in ‘for goodness’ sake.’ Finally, names of places or organisations that take a plural form (or whose last element takes a plural form) ending with an ‘s’ even though the place or organisation is actually singular should have only an apostrophe added to form the possessives, with ‘the United States’ president’ therefore referring to the president of the United States.
Why Our Editing and Proofreading Services?
At Proof-Reading-Service.com we offer the highest quality journal article editing, dissertation proofreading and online proofreading services via our large and extremely dedicated team of academic and scientific professionals. All of our proofreaders are native speakers of English who have earned their own postgraduate degrees, and their areas of specialisation cover such a wide range of disciplines that we are able to help our international clientele with research editing to improve and perfect all kinds of academic manuscripts for successful publication. Many of the carefully trained members of our manuscript editing and proofreading team work predominantly on articles intended for publication in scholarly journals, applying painstaking journal editing standards to ensure that the references and formatting used in each paper are in conformity with the journal’s instructions for authors and to correct any grammar, spelling, punctuation or simple typing errors. In this way, we enable our clients to report their research in the clear and accurate ways required to impress acquisitions proofreaders and achieve publication.
Our scientific proofreading services for the authors of a wide variety of scientific journal papers are especially popular, but we also offer manuscript proofreading services and have the experience and expertise to proofread and edit manuscripts in all scholarly disciplines, as well as beyond them. We have team members who specialise in medical proofreading services, and some of our experts dedicate their time exclusively to dissertation proofreading and manuscript proofreading, offering academics the opportunity to improve their use of formatting and language through the most exacting PhD thesis editing and journal article proofreading practices. Whether you are preparing a conference paper for presentation, polishing a progress report to share with colleagues, or facing the daunting task of editing and perfecting any kind of scholarly document for publication, a qualified member of our professional team can provide invaluable assistance and give you greater confidence in your written work.
If you are in the process of preparing an article for an academic or scientific journal, or planning one for the near future, you may well be interested in a new book, Guide to Journal Publication, which is available on our Tips and Advice on Publishing Research in Journals website.