The use of the apostrophe after names ending in -s

We add 's to names ending in -s: Charles s address Doris s party However, we can sometimes use' or s: St James' (or St James’s) Park, Mr Jones (or Jones’s)car St Thomas' (or St Thomas’s) Hospital. No matter how we write the genitive in such cases, we normally pronounce it as lizl. With some (especially famous) names ending in -s we normally add an apostrophe after the -s (pronounced /s/ or /iz/:Keats’ works Yeats’ poetry

We can show possession in the plural forms of names ending in -s by adding an apostrophe at the end: the Joneses houses, etc. With ancient Greek names we add an apostrophe after the -s, but there is no change in pronunciation, Archimedes' being pronounced the same as Archimedes- Archimedes’ Principle

Initials can be followed by s when the reference is singular: an MPs salary (= a Member of Parliament's salary), ors' when the reference is plural: MPs salaries [> 2.24].

2.45 The pronunciation of s and s'

The pronunciation of s ands depends on the sound that precedes them and follows the same rules as for plural nouns [> 2 21]: e.g.

/s/: Geoff's hat Jacks/ob a months salary. Pats handbag /z/. Ben s opinion Bill s place Bob s house the workers club /iz/: an actress s career, the boss s office, Mrs Page s jam

2.46 The use of 's/s' for purposes other than possession

While the genitive is generally associated with possession (usually answering the question Whose?), apostrophe s serves other purposes as well, for example:

Regular use: Fathers chair (= the one he usually sits on) Relationship: Angela’s son (i.e. Angela has a son) + favourite: Fish and chips is John s favourite dish Actions: Scott's journey (i.e. the journey Scott made)

Purpose: A girls’ school (= a school for girls)

Characteristics: Johns’ stammer (i.e. John has a stammer) Others: Building oil rigs is a man’s work (= suitable for)

Mozart is a composer’s composer (= appreciated by)

2.47 The use of's and s' compared with the use of 'of

The 's construction is not possible in e.g. the key of the door or the leg of the table because we do not normally use 's with non-living things [> 2.10.1, 2.44]. When-s indicates ownership, every 's

construction can have an of equivalent, but not every of-construction

can have an 's equivalent. So:

a man s voice can be expressed as the voice of a man Keats' poetry can be expressed as the poetry of Keats

And instead of the leg of the table, we can say the table-leg

2.48 The use of s and s' with living things

We may use s ors' after:

Personal names: Gus's Restaurant Jones s car

Personal nouns: the doctor's surgery man s future

Indefinite pronouns: anyone s guess, someone s responsibility Collective nouns: the army s advance, the committee s decision 'Higher animals': the horse s stable, the horses stables

Some 'lower animals': an ants nest, a bees sting

When we refer to material which is produced or made by a living animal, 's is generally required (stress on first word): a 'bird s nest 'cow's milk 'lamb's wool, etc. Where the source of a material is an animal that has been slaughtered, 's is not generally used (varied stress): 'beef 'broth 'cowhide, a 'ham sandwich 'sheepskin, etc.

2.49 The use of s and s' with non-living things

We may use s/s' or the of-construction with the following:

Geographical reference: America's policy, Hong Kong's future Institutional reference: the European Economic Community s

exports 's ors' are normally used with the following:

Place noun + superlative: New York's tallest skyscraper Churches and cathedrals: St Paul's Church, St Stephen’s Cathedral Time references: a day's work, an hour's delay, a month’s

Salary, today’s TV, a year’s absence, a week or two's time, two days' journey 'Money's worth': twenty dollars' worth of gasoline

Fixed expressions: (keep someone) at arm’s length, (be) at

death's door the earth s surface for goodness sake, (to) one s heart s content journey s end, the ship's company

An s is sometimes used with reference to cars, planes and ships: the car s exhaust the plane s engines the ship's propeller We can only learn from experience when to use s with non-living things. When in doubt, it is best to use the of-construction.

2.50 The use of the of-construction' to connect two nouns

We normally use the of-construction (not 's/s) when referring to:

Things (where a compound noun [> 2.10.1] is not available):

the book of the film, the shade of a tree Parts of things: the bottom/top'side inside of the box Abstract reference: the cost of living, the price of success The of-construction can be used to suggest be/behave/look like in e.g. an angel of a child, that fool of a ticket-inspector We also use this construction when the noun in the of-phrase is modified by an additional phrase or clause:

Can t you look at the book of the boy behind you?

This was given to me by the colleague of a friend of mine

The of-construction can be used with plural nouns to avoid ambiguity. The advice of the specialists may be preferable to the specialists advice (more than one specialist), which could be confused with the specialists advice (only one specialist).

A noun + of can sometimes be used in place of an infinitive: It's forbidden to remove books from this reference library The removal of books from this reference library is forbidden

2.51 Omission of the noun after 's and s'

The 's/s' construction can be used on its own when we refer to:

- a noun that is implied:

We need a ladder We can borrow our neighbour's

- where someone lives:

I'm staying at my aunt's I'm a guest at the Watsons'

- shops and businesses: e.g. the butcher's, the hairdresser's Would you mind going to the chemist's for me'

- medical practitioners: e.g. the dentists, the doctor's I've got an appointment at the dentist's at 11.15

When we refer to well-known stores (e.g. Macy’s Harrod’s), an apostrophe before the s is optional, but is usually omitted'.

You can t go to London without visiting Harrods/Harrod's When we refer to well-known restaurants by the name of the owner or founder (e.g. Langan's, Scott’s) s is included. Churches and colleges (often named after saints) are frequently referred to in the same way, always with ‘s:

They were married in St Bartholomew's

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