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piper09
member
Names ending in -s (grammar police please help)
piper09
member
in Baby Names
Okay, I should definitely know this since I am a teacher and a complete grammar snob, but I have been researching this online and there is a lot of conflicting info out there.
DS2 is one month old and his name is Miles. When using the possessive form of his name, I have been using Miles's. Everyone else I know uses Miles'. An acquaintance of mine with a son named Miles also uses Miles' as the possessive form.
There seems to be a lot of confusion out there about this, or maybe there is not a definitive answer. It seems to make a difference depending on the number of syllables also. For example, DS1's middle name is Ross. It seems pretty clear that Ross's is correct in this case.
The toy belonging to Miles = Miles's toy (right???)
What do you guys think, and is there a definitive source to refer to?
This discussion has been closed.
Re: Names ending in -s (grammar police please help)
I use the Chicago Manual of Style in my professional life. The newly updated CMOS endorses "Miles's":
Q. Which is the correct singular possessive form? ?Professor Davis? class? or ?Professor Davis?s class?? My history professor specifically requests our guide be the CMOS. Am I wrong that CMOS promotes both usages in this case?
A. In its 15th edition, CMOS allowed the style shown in your first example, but the new 16th edition (7.21) no longer recommends it, although it is not incorrect and other style guides might allow it. You?ll be safe if you add the s, even if your professor?s CMOS isn?t up to date.
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You're correct to use Miles's. The extra "s" indicates singular possessive. Miles' indicates plural possessive.
LOL that's funny! And weird...
perfect answer.
But wrong. Plural possessive would be Mileses'.
DS: 10/11/14
DD (5 years old) from IUI in 2012
TTC 3rd and final!: IUI #1 in progress!
I would actually just say Miles' toy. Maybe it's an old way of doing it. I only found out this year that the double space after a period is no longer the way to go. But I still do it. It's ingrained.
Oh and I agree that it is not plural possessive because Miles alone is not plural.
The dogs' toys - more than one dog. The dog's toys - only one dog.
A singular word ending in S uses the apostrophe and an additional S. This includes Miles, so "Miles's toy" is correct.
A plural word ending in S just has an apostrophe. So "kids' toys" would be proper.
BFP #1 9/7/10, EDD 5/14/11, Violet born 5/27/11.
BFP #2 4/9/12, EDD 12/16/12, M/C Rory 4/24/12.
BFP #3 10/6/12, EDD 6/16/12., Matilda born 6/17/13.
Weird. I've always used "Jesus's" as the possessive.
BFP #1 9/7/10, EDD 5/14/11, Violet born 5/27/11.
BFP #2 4/9/12, EDD 12/16/12, M/C Rory 4/24/12.
BFP #3 10/6/12, EDD 6/16/12., Matilda born 6/17/13.
My first answer was going to be that you should add the 's. We certainly pronounce it-- at our house, we don't say "Iris room," we say "Iris's room."
But apparently it's a style issue. Here's Grammar Girl's take on it:
https://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/apostrophe-plural-grammar-rules.aspx
As a related issue, my husband/ daughter's last names end in S (I kept my maiden name, but occasionally use a hyphenated name to match my daughter's), so I frequently encounter a common grammatical error: failing to pluralize last names properly. Example: the Simpons' neighbors are the Flanderses, not the Flanders.
https://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-make-family-names-plural.aspx
Both are correct.
I don't use the extra S when using the possessive of my son Francis' name. Just my preference.
Whaa? When did this happen?
When I was in elementary, we were taught that it was Miles' not Miles's. However, I recently read somewhere that both are correct but in certain cases the traditional Miles' is still preferred (poetry, etc).