Powerful writing skills: dealing with annoying plurals
Would you write “Perkins’s dog” or “Perkins’s dog”?
I don’t know about you, but I’m often confused by the use of plurals and possessive apostrophes in words that end with an “s” sound. Should we just put an apostrophe after the existing “s” or should we add an apostrophe and another “s”?
Of course, I’m not sure that many people can correct us if we’re wrong. After reviewing the guidelines for plurals in three separate reference books, there doesn’t seem to be a consensus on the tough decisions. But it’s still good to have at least one rule of thumb, if only to improve our power writing skills.
Let’s start by reviewing possessive apostrophes with singular nouns that don’t end in “s”. In that case, the rule for possessive plurals is quite simple: add an apostrophe and an “s”, as in John’s house or May’s book.
Similarly, you can add just an apostrophe to most plural nouns, as in the players’ box and the dog’s bones.
Where I get into rough waters is by adding the possessive to proper nouns (ie names and titles) that end in a sibilant. As the Chicago Manual of Style wryly puts it, “How to form the possessive of polysyllabic personal names ending with the sound of “s” or “z” probably generates more dissension among writers and editors than any other orthographic issue open to disagreement.” It sounds confusing, but it just means that this subject of possessive plurals is the most controversial issue facing writers and publishers.
Personally, I like the way the Gregg Reference Manual deals with the subject. Recommends a pronunciation-based approach. If you would add an extra syllable when saying the word, add both an apostrophe and an “s”; if you wouldn’t add an extra syllable, just use the apostrophe. He cites the following example, “Kindness of Mr. Perkins” (if the name is pronounced in three syllables) or “Kindness of Mr. Perkins” (the name is pronounced in two syllables).
To use another example, let’s consider Mr. Perkins’s dog (where you would normally pronounce Perkins as two syllables). On the other hand, if the Perkins families had a meeting, he could write the Perkins meeting (where he would normally pronounce the name in three syllables); in the latter case, this would help clarify that I am referring to various members of the Perkins family.
On the other hand, my favorite tactic at times like this is to be a dodger and rewrite the sentence so I don’t have to make a difficult decision. For example, “the kindness of Mr. Perkins” or “the reunion of the Perkins families”. Sometimes I like the coward’s way out!
In short, having a couple of rules of thumb will increase your writing skills when it comes to adding the possessive plural to proper nouns that end with the “s” sound. First, you can use the pronunciation as a guide, adding an extra “s” after the apostrophe if that’s how you would say it. Second, you can simply “write around” the problem by rearranging the words so that you don’t have to make a decision. Third and last, remember that the authorities disagree with each other on this issue, so your decision is final.