Comments on: When to Form a Plural with an Apostrophe

By: Edward G. Talbot

Edward G. Talbot — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:08:50 +0000

To Hank:

Thank-you for pointing this out: “names ending in s or an s sound are not required to have the second s added in possessive form.”

That saved me having to look it up to confirm that my memory is not faulty, and “Charles’ book” is indeed correct.

By: Jon

Jon — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:11:40 +0000

I think the confusion stems from the fact that grammar rules change with each new generation’s pet peeves. When I was in grammar school in the 1980s, the way I just wrote the plural of “1980″ would have been considered wrong. Now it is considered correct. It’s hard to keep up with rules that change from what you were taught.

By: Hank Abelard

Hank Abelard — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:41:17 +0000

To Luke S.:

The CWS says “names ending in s or an s sound are not required to have the second s added in possessive form.”

So, it appears that you have already lost the fight against “Charles’ book”.

By: Trevor Hanson

Trevor Hanson — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 06:13:35 +0000

An hilarious series of exchanges. Thanks to everyone who has put an oar in the water.

As a data point, I recently read a collection of letters exchanged between a pair of highly literate and well-educated people in the mid-20th century…one of whom was a professional editor and proofreader for a distinguished publishing house. Their letters were full of proper names in which the plurals were formed by adding apostrophe-s: Smith’s, Adams’s. I deduce that, before WWII, there was at least one school of serious grammarians who taught at least one generation that this was, indeed, the correct way to form plurals of names. Today it looks odd, because we all read the Chicago Manual, but we should remember that these usage rules remain fluid over decades and centuries.

By: John

John — Fri, 27 May 2011 08:07:50 +0000

No one answered Randall’s question, regarding grades.

What’s the plural form of grades? A’s but not B’s?