Grammar mavens! Need confirmation on possesive punctuation!

[YouAreTheFocus]

I must get these invites out, but I want to double-check with you all--if you were writing about the first birthday party of Rhys, the correct way is:

Rhys's First Birthday

right? And not:

Rhys' First Birthday

???

I have looked this up over and over, but now that I am actually committing it to paper I am second-guessing myself..mostly b/c ppl have emailed me and written it the second way.

[LBW]

Rhys's is how I would spell it.

[ThreeofUs]

Could be either. Depends on what manual of style you follow.

[Cam&Clay]

And I would do the opposite:

Rhys' First Birthday


I think it really doesn't matter as long as you are consistent...not that it would be used again in the invite.

[Dcclerk]

Could be either. Depends on what manual of style you follow.

I agree with this, although I personally greatly dislike the use of "s"-apostrophe for a singular word. My belief is to stick with consistency when at all possible. A singular noun gets a apostrophe-"s" so I go with Rhys's, Chris's, and all other such ways. I have had bosses "correct" me a few times, though.

[YouAreTheFocus]

Ugh, and here I was hoping one would be right and one would be wrong. I like things to be cut and dry :) When I was searching online it was overwhelmingly in favor of <Rhys's> but just now I dusted off my AP Stylebook from college, and it says <Rhys'>. I guess it is like the oxford comma--I love 'em, others don't!

[Mamma2004]

I agree with this, although I personally greatly dislike the use of "s"-apostrophe for a singular word. My belief is to stick with consistency when at all possible. A singular noun gets a apostrophe-"s" so I go with Rhys's, Chris's, and all other such ways. I have had bosses "correct" me a few times, though.

:yeahthat:

I decided when DS was very young that I - a grammar FAN and FOLLOWER at all costs - would adopt the 's and remain consistent at all times.

Decide what feels right to YOU and go with it....forever :wink2:

[cono0507]

I must get these invites out, but I want to double-check with you all--if you were writing about the first birthday party of Rhys, the correct way is:

Rhys's First Birthday

right? And not:

Rhys' First Birthday

???

I have looked this up over and over, but now that I am actually committing it to paper I am second-guessing myself..mostly b/c ppl have emailed me and written it the second way.

I can never decide and always end up chickening out with something like:
First Birthday Party for Rhys
:)

[misshollygolightly]

Ok, I'll weigh in. I'm an English PhD candidate and an editorial assistant for an academic journal, FWIW. This really is a matter of style, and different publishing houses are in disagreement over how to handle this situation. However, the general rule of thumb for the humanities in academia is to go ahead and add the apostrophe "s" *if* that more accurately reflects the way the word would be pronounced aloud. So, for example, we would tend to say/write:
"Odysseus' voyage" because most people would NOT pronounce the phrase as "Odysseus-es voyage"
BUT we would say/write:
"Rhys's birthday" because most people WOULD pronounce the phrase as "Reez-es birthday" as opposed to "Reez birthday"

Clear as mud, right? In the end, I would write "Rhys's birthday" in this case.

I hope that helps some!

[noodle]

. . . I personally greatly dislike the use of "s"-apostrophe for a singular word. My belief is to stick with consistency when at all possible. A singular noun gets a apostrophe-"s" so I go with Rhys's, Chris's, and all other such ways.
:yeahthat: Rhys's. Awesome name, btw.

[DebbieJ]

I must get these invites out, but I want to double-check with you all--if you were writing about the first birthday party of Rhys, the correct way is:

Rhys's First Birthday

right? And not:

Rhys' First Birthday

???

I have looked this up over and over, but now that I am actually committing it to paper I am second-guessing myself..mostly b/c ppl have emailed me and written it the second way.

That is what I would vote for.


I can never decide and always end up chickening out with something like:
First Birthday Party for Rhys
:)

But that is what I would probably do.

[wendibird22]

A singular noun gets a apostrophe-"s" so I go with Rhys's, Chris's, and all other such ways.

I agree. If you were talking about a singular student it would be student's. If you were talking about a group of students it would be students'. Since I assume there's just one and only Rhys then I'd go with Rhys's.

[boogiemomz]

Rhys's is how I would spell it.

:yeahthat:

[Corie]

BUT we would say/write:
"Rhys's birthday" because most people WOULD pronounce the phrase as "Reez-es birthday" as opposed to "Reez birthday"

Clear as mud, right? In the end, I would write "Rhys's birthday" in this case.

I hope that helps some!


Actually, that *is* pretty clear! (at least to me!)

That was a great explanation! Thanks!

[OctoberMommy2010]

Our last name ends in an "s" and I REALLY dislike it. All of the cute personalized crafts... I never know what to do. I ordered a personalized Halloween craft once as _____s's (after consulting a style book from college) and when it came I thought it looked silly, so I peeled off the "s" on the end. Haha! So silly... I usually chicken out too and rephrase the wording.

[PAfirsttimemom]

My good ol' Chicago Manual of Style says that the general rule is 's even for proper names ending in s, x, or z.

But, it goes on to say that those uncomfortable with this rule may prefer to follow the system of simply omitting the possessive s on all words ending in s, the caveat being that this system disregards pronunciation and thus seems unnatural to many.

So, as a PP said, pick the style you like and be consistent with it!

I tend to follow Chicago's preferred rule (adding the 's), FWIW.

[bigpassport]

I agree that either is acceptable. I prefer s' to s's. FWIW our invitations said Linus' First Birthday. Either way, you're fine....have a great party!!