Administrative Sparkle Blog

Do you find yourself debating whether to use singular possessive or plural possessive in your writing? This was my challenge this past week when helping a colleague figure out where to put her apostrophes or whether she even needed to use the apostrophe at all.

1. Determine True Possessive and Descriptive Possessive.

Possessive = whose

the employee’s personnel file
California’s laws
the Tinsleys’ residence

Descriptive = what kind of

the employee personnel file
California laws
the Tinsley residence

They are both correct, but keep it consistent in the document you are writing. Also, names of countries, governmental units, and organized groups ending in ”s” usually do not require an apostrophe.

2. Add an Apostrophe “s” to Form the Possessive of Singular Nouns Not Ending in “s” and For Plural Nouns Not Ending in “s.”

Linda’s condo
The dog’s bark
The woman’s voice
The women’s voices

3. Add Only an Apostrophe to Form the Possessive Both Singular and Plural Nouns ending in “s.”

Jess’ class
Sears’ blowout sale
the boss’ directives

Some writers prefer to add both an apostrophe “s,” especially if the new word has an extra syllable.

Jess’s class
the boss’s directives
the actress’s screen debut

This practice of using the additional “s” is declining.

4. Use Only a Single Apostrophe “s” when Joint Possession is Intended.

Layne and Lynda’s music

Clarify if the item is not owned jointly.

Layne’s and Lynda’s music
or
Layne’s music and Lynda’s music

5. Add an Apostrophe “s” to the End of Personal and Organizational Names and Abbreviations Showing Possession.

Borders’ hiring procedure
SMUD’s payment policy
Yale’s orientation

Check the letterhead or other correspondence for exceptional cases.

6. Some Possessives Occur Without a Following Noun.

My job is similar to Lynda’s.
She was at the dentist’s.

7. Use a Possessive to Modify an “ing” for of a Verb Used as a Noun.

Lynda’s speaking skills are a little rusty.
I appreciate my colleague’s writing skills.

I suggested to my colleague, to make it easier to figure out whether to use the singular or plural use, to insert her own name in determining whether to put the apostrophe before or after the “s.” It helps, but remembering that the singular use indicates one and the plural use indicates more than one is what you want to make clear.

Simply put, singular and plural indicates whether it is one or more and possessive indicates ownership or, in other cases, other close relationships.

What tips and ideas do you have that helps your writing? English is definitely one of the more difficult languages and we have so many rules, as well as exceptions. Sometimes it is tough to figure out what rules to apply. It is also a fun language to get creative with your writing as well. With practice, you will get better and the more curious you will get about learning writing structure and technique. Let me know how you are doing with that.

With great affection,