GRAMMAR QUESTION

Pre-College Topics High School Life
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>If there is a name that ends with an ‘s’, how would I say it in the possesive form like this:</p>

<p>Ex. If I want to say that there is a person named pegasus that had a blue car.</p>

<p>Would it be like : Pegasus’s car is blue.
or?
Pegasus’ car is blue.</p>

<p>which one</p>

2

<p>Pegasus’s</p>

3

<p>Pegasus’s car is blue = There is one person named Pegasus who owns a blue car.
[The] Pegasus’ car is blue = There are multiple people with the name Pegasu (not Pegasus) and together they own a blue car.</p>

<p>Basically, s’ is only for plural possessives. It’s to keep you from saying something like Pegasuses’s. Pegasus’s is fine. </p>

4

<p>u sure?</p>

5

<p>Yes, but you could always Google it like everyone else…</p>

6

<p>I’ve seen it done both ways. Although nowadays, it’s more common to see Pegasus’s.</p>

7

<p>I learned it as Pegasus’, even for one (my last name ends with an s, so I’ve had this difficulty a lot). To me, the “s’s” looks wrong. Either form is technically acceptable, though. You may want to consider how it looks on the page since either form can be considered correct.</p>

8

<p>See, that’s how I learned it in second grade, but ever since then, it’s been gradually leaning towards the s’s, at least by my English teachers’ reckoning. [And there you definitely use an s’.]</p>

9

<p>@foolish @halcyonheather: Actually, by convention, it is correct to use s’ in cases where the noun is proper. Since Pegasus is a proper noun, the correct possessive form is “Pegasus’.” You can read more here:
<a href=“grammatical number - What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in "‑s"? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange”>http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/1073/what-is-the-correct-possessive-for-nouns-ending-in-s&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

10

<p>I think it’s debatable. The Chicago Manual of Style [url=&lt;a href=“Topic Q&A List”&gt;Topic Q&A List]says[/url</a>] either is correct. Out loud I’d pronounce it as “Pegasuses,” which compels the spelling Pegasus’s. Really, though, I’d probably just say, “Pegasus has a blue car.” :)</p>

11

<p>I’d just say the blue car of the pegasus.</p>

12

<p>@halcyonheather: In retrospect, I agree that it is debatable, though APA does recommend “Pegasus’,” so it seems to vary by style guide. Additionally, the fact that Pegasus is commonly mistaken as a common noun may make the “Pegasuses” pronunciation sound correct.</p>

13

<p>Thanks guys for the help.</p>