Judy Vorfeld's OFFICE SUPPORT SERVICES

Writing, editing, photography, technology, and Web development for small businesspeople

  • Home
  • About
  • Articles
    • Snazzy Presentations
    • Homonym Heaven
    • Lists: capitalization and punctuation
  • Contact
  • Blog
You are here: Home / Grammar / Plural & Possessives for Proper Nouns Ending in Sibilants

Plural & Possessives for Proper Nouns Ending in Sibilants

July 22, 2007 By Administrator

Let’s tackle plurals and possessives for proper nouns ending in sibilants! Gulp! Recently, someone asked me, “Which is correct for the plural of my last name – Strauss’s or Strausses or Strauss’???? And what about possessives?”

First, let’s discuss sibilants. Merriam-Webster’s defines a sibilant as having, containing, or producing the sound of or a sound resembling that of the s or the sh in sash. It says sibilant is a present participle of sibilare, which is to “hiss, whistle, of imitative origin.”

Chicago Manual of Style says (6.7) The PLURALS of most nouns are formed by the addition of “s” or “es.” When the noun ends in soft “ch” or in “s, sh, j,x, or z,” the plural inflection is “es.” So it appears the plural of your name is “Strausses.” The Strausses live there. The Strusses are going to Rome. The Strausses have guests.


You’d only use an apostrophe if it were used in a possessive manner: The Strauss’s landscaping…The Strauss’s dog. Chicago Manual of Style says (6.24)The general rule for the POSSESSIVE of nouns covers most proper nouns, including most names ending in sibilants…

Examples: Kansas’s, Burn’s, Ross’s.

Rice University Style Guide says: Form the possessive of singular nouns, including proper nouns and words ending in sibilants, with ’s (but heed exceptions noted in Chicago).

* Mrs. Davis’s house
* The boss’s office
* Octavio Paz’s work

Here’s another excellent explanation: Making Words Possessive When They End in Sibilants

And here’s more:

Strunk and White says the following:
http://bartleby.com/141/strunk.html

Form the possessive singular of nouns with ‘s.

Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write,

Charles’s friend
Burns’s poems
the witch’s malice

This is the usage of the United States Government Printing Office and of the Oxford University Press.

Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in -es and -is, the possessive Jesus’, and such forms as for conscience’ sake, for righteousness’ sake. But such forms as Achilles’ heel, Moses’ laws, Isis’ temple are commonly replaced by

the heel of Achilles
the laws of Moses
the temple of Isis

Filed Under: Grammar, Writing

Comments

  1. jane topley says

    April 21, 2009 at 10:49 am

    How are the possesives pronounced – as in Mrs. davis’s house- davis or daveses.?
    When I was in elementaryschool in the late 30s and early 40s I thought we were taught that the plural and posessive was Davis’ and pronounced Davis

    • Administrator says

      April 21, 2009 at 11:29 am

      These days most people will pronounce it “Davises.”

  2. Craig Luedeman says

    July 1, 2009 at 11:11 am

    When reading from the Bible, I can’t bring myself to say Jesuses birth, etc. I always say Jesus’. Other web sites I’ve seen say Jesus’, not Jesuses, but you seem to be saying the opposite? What am I missing here?

    • Administrator says

      July 1, 2009 at 11:52 am

      Strunk and White says the following:
      http://bartleby.com/141/strunk.html

      Form the possessive singular of nouns with ‘s.

      Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write,

      Charles’s friend
      Burns’s poems
      the witch’s malice

      This is the usage of the United States Government Printing Office and of the Oxford University Press.

      Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in -es and -is, the possessive Jesus’, and such forms as for conscience’ sake, for righteousness’ sake. But such forms as Achilles’ heel, Moses’ laws, Isis’ temple are commonly replaced by

      the heel of Achilles
      the laws of Moses
      the temple of Isis

  3. Kim says

    September 18, 2009 at 6:38 am

    My two Auntie Diane’s.

    Is this correct?

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe To My Newsletter

Categories

Latest Posts

10 Things to Look for Before Choosing the Best Home Care Assistance

What Should I Look for When Choosing Home Health Care? Guest Post by Nicholas Rubright As your … [Read More...]

How Hiring Freelancers Can Save a Solopreneur’s Sanity

Guest Post by Lance Cody-Valdez If you’re a solopreneur, you may be wondering if you’ll ever have … [Read More...]

How to Achieve a Healthy Work-Life Balance

December 2, 2021 Guest post: Teresa Siqueira If you have a busy … [Read More...]

Tags

4 Paws for Ability Add new tag Arizona Arizona Bridge to Independent Living Arizona Center for Disability Law Autism autism service dog Becky Blanton BL Ochman calamity jan Chancer Christmas Hills Tree Farm Dale Chihuly David Crook Desert Botanical Garden Disabilities Disability Empowerment Center Donnie Kanter Winokur Facebook FASD Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Grammar hawaii holualoa Iyal Winokur Janet Crook jan pierson Judy Vorfeld Kerrie Simpson Litchfield Park AZ Martha Retallick Morasha Winokur Mossyrock Peoria Peoria AZ Phoenix Photography Ron Simpson Seth Godin Social Networking Sue C Boynton Poetry Contest TED Twitter Wildlife World Zoo Aquarium Writing

Judy Vorfeld's
OFFICE SUPPORT SERVICES

10439 W Royal Palm Rd.
Peoria AZ 85345

Editing and Writing Services

  • Home
  • Newsletter
  • About
  • Articles
  • Contact

Copyright © 1998 ‐ 2019 — Judy Vorfeld's OFFICE SUPPORT SERVICES • All rights reserved.