It was the type of moment that can bring a tear to nitpicking mom’s eyes.
Glancing at the movie title Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who, my daughter asked about the placement of the apostrophe. I praised her attentiveness, but I didn’t pause for a grammar lesson. I think that how to use an apostrophe with a word ending in an “S” is one of the most difficult lessons to master, and it was close to her bed time.
The Associated Press Stylebook devotes nearly two pages in its punctuation section on how to form possessives. The movie title is in line with its guidelines for singular proper names ending in “S.”
The Chicago Manual of Style, however, says that the same general rule for forming possessives “covers most proper nouns, including names ending in s, x, or z.” The examples it offers include Strauss’sVienna. That style guide does note that “Since feelings on these matters sometimes run high, users of this manual may wish to modify or add to the exceptions,” plus it adds an alternative practice of always omitting the possessive “S” on words that end in “S,” so that would allow Dr. Seuss’.
If I were the editor, however, it would have been Dr. Seuss’s Horton Hears a Who.
How do you write possessives of proper names ending with “S”?
I always add apostrophe + s to a singular noun, whether proper or not. That way I never have to think about it.
Following a consistent style does make it easy.
If the name is in the singular case, I always add an apostrophe s to make proper nouns ending in s possessive. My rationale is this:
You generally use only the apostrophe (vice apostrophe s) to words that are plural. The terminal ‘s’ in the name ‘Seuss’ is part of the entire name — it’s not been added to make the name plural. If you just add an apostrophe, then it’s not illogical to infer that the word itself is plural.
But I have another tough question for you. My first name Jaton’ — the mark following my name is intended to be an accent mark. I don’t have a clue how to make my name possessive because Jaton”s would look really odd
. ;-)
That is a tough one! I think that’s the type of situation where I would find a way to rewrite the sentence.