Genitive
is Not a Dirty Word
Grammatical cases are rarely referred to by name
any more, outside of linguistic catacombs, anyway.
What the genitive case does is to show possession.
Before your eyes glaze over, remember the last time you cringed
at sight of a misplaced apostrophe (as in the roadside sign “Night
Crawlers and Worm’s”), and see if that strengthens your resolve
to refresh your memory.
First, some review.
We insert an apostrophe before a final [s] in a word is to show
that the [s] is possessive rather than plural:
- Mary's car
- The children's bicycles
- A man's hat
So far so good.
But what if, instead of Mary, the car belongs to Les? It is common, when a word ends in [s], to add an apostrophe
to make the possessive case. Common,
but wrong. Confusion arises
from two sources: number
(as in singular versus plural) and final letter of the word showing
possession.
When a singular noun ends in [s], the rule
for showing possession remains the same as for nouns not ending in
[s]—Simply add [‘s], as in:
- Les’s car
- the Williams’s property
- Isaacs’s folly
Note 1:
If you’re not a confirmed grammar freak, you may find it
expedient to skip the next note—Without due attentiveness, it is apt
to add confusion.
Note 2:
You may have noticed that the examples immediately preceding note 1
are all proper nouns. This
is to underplay an exception, with which English grammar is rife.
When a common noun ends with a sibilant sound and addition of [‘s]
would add a syllable, the possessive
[s] is dropped and its apostrophe may or may not be shown, as in [the
kiss’ portent], or [conscience’
sake]. Oh
yes—Another exception. In
poetic and reverential contexts, [s’],
as in [Jesus’ words], is
acceptable. Brought to you
compliments of Fowler’s “Modern English Usage.”
Still with us? To show
possession in a plural
noun,
focus on the final letter—[s] versus any other final letter. Plural nouns ending in anything but [s] show possession by
adding [‘s]:
- children’s hour
- the data’s trends
- the people’s choice
Now at last we see where [s’] has its proper place.
When a plural noun ending in [s] shows possession, only an
apostrophe is added:
- the birds’ chirping
- ladies’ night
- five years’ imprisonment
(versus one year’s imprisonment)
Remember that the rule for showing possession (the
genitive case) is the same for three of four grammatical situations.
Add [‘s] for all singular nouns, whatever their final letter
(but see note 2), and for plural nouns ending in anything but [s].
When plural nouns end in [s], add only an apostrophe to show
possession. To make sense of when to use in [s’] versus [s’s] and
avoid the tendency to dispense with any apostrophe at all, you’ll want
to be aware of these potential trip-wires.
|
Guidelines for the Genitive Case (Showing
Possession)
|
|
When the word is:
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
|
any
word
|
proper
nouns
|
any
word
|
proper
nouns
|
|
ending in anything
but s
|
one year’s
imprisonment
|
Jake’s worst trait
|
the charwomen’s
labor union
|
the People’s
Republic
|
|
ending in s
|
for goodness’ sake
(see note 2)
|
Charles’s thews
|
my parents’ house
|
the Joneses’ ethics
|
by Jackie Dial, American Book Publishing
Editor
© 2005 American Book
Publishing™ *All other trademarks used by permission. All rights
reserved.
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