Writers Tricks of the Trade Vol. 5, Issue 4 | Page 20

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A WRITERS BANE: THE DISEASE OF APOSTROPHE’S (CONT’D)
Then the whole issue devolves into the murk when we use the possessive of a noun
that ends in s. Mr. Jones’s car. Strunk and White, in their Elements of Style, insist
that we always use the additional s, and the Chicago Manual of Style says either
with or without is correct, but they prefer the additional s, as well. There are some
arguments against that, however. I’ve seen some discussions that insist that Strunk
and White wrote almost 100 years ago and so are a bit outdated, and that the
second s is never needed. Others say it depends on how the word is spoken. If the
second s is spoken, it’s necessary in the written word. Phonetically, if we’re saying
Mr. Jones-es car, we need the second s. If we’re saying Mr. Jones car, then we don’t.
This is one area where it seems to come down to personal style. My own preference
is no second s (seems cleaner to me), but obviously I’m not the one making the rules
here.

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Now, is all that perfectly clear?
Just make sure you get your apostrophe’s in the right place’s, and make sure you
really, really need them. Remember, if your word’s are not possessive’s or
contraction’s, they don’t need apostrophe’s at all. Don’t fall victim to the Disease’s
of Apostrophe’s.
[If you need a refresher on the basics of apostrophes, please see Cathy Speight’s
article.]

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WRITERS’ TRICKS OF THE TRADE

PAGE 9

JULY-AUGUST 2015