Curses–singular proper possessives
Published by Becky S March 14th, 2004 in style & grammarThroughout the Filing Technique post, I refer to David Rees’ comic strips. After noticing that Amazon.com uses David Rees’s, I consulted the trusty MLA Handbook (fifth edition–I know, I’m behind). On page 62, item (e) in section 2.2.7. Apostrophes is pretty clear:
To form the possessive of any singular proper noun, add an apostrophe and an s.
- Venus’s beauty
- Dickens’s reputation
- Descartes’s philosophy
- Marx’s precepts
Dammit–can’t believe I fell into such a rookie trap.
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I’ve heard that the only exception to this rule about S possessives is “Jesus” — the pronoun Jesus does not take the extra S. (As long as you’re talking about the son of God and not another person who happens to be named Jesus, that is.) How confusing!