I had a heated discussion at work today about possessives. The way I was taught, you make any singular noun possessive by adding 's even if it ends in an s or x or z. The only exception is Jesus or Moses.
Example: Mr. Harris's class
the Senechaux's key
Jan Karpowitz's feelings
Moses' friends
I was typing a document with a name like Karpowitz and my co-worker tried to tell me I needed to take off the 's' and have it just say Jan Karpowitz' feelings. I said no way and got on the Internet to prove her wrong. Turns out there is conflicting information. Some people say you can say Jan Karpowitz' feelings. I say they're wrong. So I left it on anyway. What do YOU think?
The end.
7 comments:
I have heard that you do s' but I was not an English major!
Your first mistake was going to the internet to find an authoritative source.
Find a copy of Strunk and White's The Elements of Style.
Also, I disagree with you.
I agree with you Ems. :)
Well Emily I have to say that is a tough one. I never grasped the concept of the 's, s', or s. It got so confusing to a poor 4th grader that I decided to always use 's, because that way I am right at least 90% of the time. For some reason our silly english language can't be cut, dry and simple, there always has to be an exception to the rule...I before E except after C and in words like neighbor... Know what I mean?
So you go with your gut instinct and you just remind that there other lady YOUR AND ENGLISH MAJOR!!!
Kim Elder
Yay! Four comments in one day. I should post about grammar more often. By the way, thank you Tracy.
Sorry, I think I subscribe to the other viewpoint.
History majors should also agree with Emily. I have seen several published, and peer reviewed articles which also confirm your standing. I can also direct you to Julie Pulsipher, Asst. Department Chair at BYU who made a point to tell us that this is her pet peeve, and to emphasived the point, she spent an entire class explaining the differences, and then gave our college writing and research class an entire assignment that covered this very question.
Post a Comment