Quote:
Originally Posted by WhattayaBrian
Singular possessive adds an apostrophe s, regardless of the letter the word ends in, barring exceptions like "its".
While it's true that it can be acceptable to do the alternative depending on where you go, the fewer silly rules we have in grammar, the better.  |
Quote:
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Originally Posted by http://www.meredith.edu/grammar/plural.htm
Singular possessive
The possessive form of a singular noun is an apostrophe followed by the letter "s."
Kramer's hair
Daphne's patience
the car's engine
Words ending with s, z or x generally omit the "s."
Dr. Seuss' sense of humor
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generally, I believe this rule applies to any use where a general public audience is being given text. As much fun as it would be to perfect english by ridding its silly rules, it's vital to remain generally consistent in its inconsistency. In other words, you throw out the concept of not having silly rules as soon as you start speaking in english; by inherent design.
One could easily create a philosophical argument to why english should, or should not, go for "silly rules"; but the definite fact to be resolved is that english
does encourage silly rules. I don't think english is the language anyone should be speaking if they want to avoid silly rules, so why attempt to avoid them when you are going towards them? Sounds most silly to me after all, to use the most silly language and attempt to make it concrete.
