Most of us have little difficulty recognizing these as possessive and inserting the �s properly. But what about words ending in sibilants? (Oh yes, a sibilant sound is created when a word ends in ce, j, s, sh, or z; a great word to tuck away for future use.) The general rule is that if the word is singular, do add the apostrophe and an s, but if it is plural, use the apostrophe only. Of course, we all know that general rules exist only for their exceptions; consider the following headlines:
NY Times (8/22/00): “Woods’s Great Skill, Unshakeable Will”
Philadelphia Inquirer (8/23/00): “Woods’ Approach to Golf Is Good for Life”
If two prominent newspapers cannot agree, where are we left? To our dismay (delight?), they are probably both right. It’s a bit like saying two bodies can occupy the same space simultaneously.
There is an exception which applies to singular nouns ending with a sibilant and is nothing if not subjective. It is that whether the s is added or not depends on how it sounds to you; remember, if you add an s, it will be pronounced. If your tongue gets twisted around the extra s, do not use it; but if you do, no demerits will be awarded! An example is “Achilles’ heal”; imagine how the course of Greek history might have changed were it “Achilles’s heal”!
A couple of non-subjective rules which are frequently abused:
Never use an apostrophe after a possessive pronoun: “The cat ate its dinner”; or “the soup is yours.” It’s is never possessive but is a verb contraction meaning “it is” or “it has” as in “It’s been a hazy day.” Other possessive pronouns are hers, ours, and theirs. Too often the apostrophe improperly sneaks in before the s where no verb contraction is intended.
Never use an apostrophe at the end of a non-possessive plural noun as in “the Smith’s are coming”; as opposed to the proper “the Smiths are coming.” This error falls out of the pens of writers who (should) know better with exasperating frequency.
What about two possessive nouns in the same sentence; do we put an apostrophe and an s after each? Here we’re dealing with a solution that is both simple and rational. If the possessive object is the same for both nouns, only the latter noun (or last if there are more than two) gets the apostrophe and s: “There is Mary and John’s house” or “She is Sally and Bill’s daughter” (one house and one daughter). If, however, there are separate possessive objects, both (or all, if more than two) possessive nouns get an apostrophe and s: “I Like Nashville’s and Miami’s stadiums.” “John’s, Larry’s, and Mike’s pitching arms are all strong.” (Two stadiums, three arms).
It’s nice to end on an unassailable note.
– Ken Butera