Page 52 - Perfect English Grammar: The Indispensable Guide to Excellent Writing and Speaking

it Charleses.
■ If the name sounds as if it already has an “es” or “eez” sound at the

end, and ends in an -s, like Bridges, Mercedes, or Moses, then just
use an apostrophe: Bridges’, Mercedes’, Moses’. Note that Reese’s,

the candy maker, ends in an e, so it gets the -’s at the end, regardless
of how it sounds.

■ Certain ancient names traditionally take only an apostrophe, at least
in formal works: Achilles’, Euripides’, Jesus’, Venus’, Zeus’. However,

this tradition is weakening.

The overall trend in English is moving toward using -’s in most cases for making
proper nouns possessive. Partly this is because many people feel the apostrophe

hanging on the end of a word like Sophocles’ just looks wrong. Some major

style guides now permit, or even prefer, formations such as Ganges’s, with the
understanding that most speakers will not pronounce the second s.

However, I encourage you to be a little conservative on this. If you’re
writing for work or for school, use the same option that your institution or

profession prefers, or that your boss or teacher uses, regardless of the preceding
guidelines.

See also section 8.6.7 on the question of plural family names and section

8.6.1, Plurals of Some Greek and Latin Words.

4.7 Common Possessive Mistakes to Avoid

An apostrophe never makes a word plural. It either makes it possessive or
shows it’s a contraction.

■ Wrong: Our grandparent’s are visiting us during vacation.
■ Right: I learned dozens of relatives’ names at the family reunion.

The possessive apostrophe on a word made plural with -s never goes
between a vowel and the -s.