User:Allixpeeke/apostrophe

When using an apostrophe to mark a possessive case, it is vital to know whether the person or object doing the possessing is singular or plural.

The rules

The rules are simple:

1. When the person or object doing the possessing is singular, you always add 's  to denote that it is doing the possessing.
   • Examples:
     • A single man possessing a hat:  The man's hat.
     • The barking of a particular dog:  That dog's incessant barking.
     • The legs of a singular table:  My table's legs.
     • The waves of a single ocean:  The ocean's waves.
     • The labour performed within a given day:  All in a day's work.
     • Problems not possessed by anybody:  Nobody's problems.
     • Problems possessed by each other:  Each other's problems.
     • The evil plan of a single attorney-general:  The attorney-general's evil plan.
     • A list made by a single organisation:  The F. B. I.'s most-wanted list.
     • The heal of Achilles:  Achilles's heel
     • The rebellion led by Daniel Shays:  Shays's Rebellion
     • The staff of Moses:  Moses's staff
       • Pronounced:  moseses staff
     • The disciples of Jesus:  Jesus's disciples
       • Pronounced:  jesuses disciples
     • The brother of a single person:  Jacob Grimm's brother, Wilhelm.
       • Pronounced:  jacob grimms brother wilhelm
     • The books possessed or written by Charles Dickens:  Charles Dickens's books
       • Pronounced:  charles dickenses books
     • The philosophy of a single philosopher:  Socrates's philosophy.
       • Pronounced:  socrateses philosophy
     • The lack of relevancy of a single official:  The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports's irrelevancy.
       • Pronounced:  the lord warden of the cinque portses irrelevancy
     • The McNuggets produced by a single restaurant named McDonald's:  The local McDonald's's McNuggets.
       • Pronounced:  the local micdonaldses micnuggets
     • The first track of a single album titled His 'n' Hers:  His 'n' Hers's first track.
       • Pronounced:  his en herses first track
2. When the person or object doing the possessing is plural—a normal plural, where s or es is added to the singular to form it into a plural—you always add '  to denote that it is doing the possessing.
   • Examples:
     • The barking of multiple dog:  Those dogs' incessant barking.
     • The legs of a various table:  My tables' legs.
     • The waves of various ocean:  The oceans' waves.
     • Problems possessed by others:  The others' problems.
     • The single heal collectively possessed by multiple persons with the same name, Achille:  The Achilles' heel
       • Pronounced:  the achilles heal
     • The published compendium of multiple persons with the same surname, Grimm:  Grimms' Fairy Tales.
       • Pronounced:  grimms fairy tales
     • The books collectively possessed or collectively written by multiple persons with the same name, Charles Dicken:  Charles Dickens' books
       • Pronounced:  charles dickens books
     • The philosophy of multiple persons with the same name, Socrate:  The Socrates' philosophy.
       • Pronounced:  The Socrates philosophy
     • The McNuggets produced by the various McDonald's branches:  McDonald's' McNuggets.
       • Pronounced:  micdonaldss micnuggets
3. When the person or object doing the possessing is plural—where plurality is not denoted by adding s or es to the singular—you always add 's  to denote that it is doing the possessing.
   • Examples:
     • Multiple men possessing a single hat:  The men's hat.
     • Multiple men possessing a multiple hats:  The men's hats.
     • Multiple children possessing a single game:  The children's game.
     • Multiple children possessing a multiple games:  The children's games.
     • A single evil plan held in common by multiple attorneys-general:  The attorneys-general's evil plan.
       • Pronounced:  the attorneys generals evil plan
     • Multiple evil plan held, whether individually or in common, by multiple attorneys-general:  The attorneys-general's evil plans.
       • Pronounced:  the attorneys generals evil plans
     • The legs of multiple people:  People's legs.
       • Pronounced:  peoples legs
     • The various sides of various dice:  The dice's various sides.
       • Pronounced:  the dices various sides
     • The lack of relevancy of multiple officials who have held the same title:  The Lords Warden of the Cinque Ports's irrelevancy.
       • Pronounced:  the lords warden of the cinque portses irrelevancy
4. Exceptions:
   • Her
   • Hers
   • His
   • Its
     • It's was originally proper, was was dropped in the early 1800s.  It now refers exclusively to contractions of it is.
   • Mine
   • My
   • Their
   • Theirs
   • Our
   • Ours
   • Whose
   • Your
   • Yours

How placement disambiguates

Each of these four phrases has a distinct meaning:

Phrase		Meaning
Your friend's neighbour's libertarian outlook		The libertarian outlook of a neighbour of a single friend of yours
Your friend's neighbours' libertarian outlook		The libertarian outlook of multiple neighbours of a single friend of yours
Your friends' neighbour's libertarian outlook		The libertarian outlook of a single neighbour of multiple friends of yours
Your friends' neighbours' libertarian outlook		The libertarian outlook of various neighbours of multiple friends of yours

Each of these three sentences has a distinct meaning:

Sentence		Explanation
The king said, "Those things are my subject's."		The king is claiming that those things belong to one of his subjects, or perhaps to his only subject.
The king said, "Those things are my subjects'."		The king is claiming that those things, whether individually or in common, belong to various subjects of his.
The king said, "Those things are my subjects."		The king is referring to his subjects as his "things."