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by dragonwriter 2193 days ago
> Funnily enough, if their name was Bobs then the possessive would be Bobs’

Actually, no; s’ is for possessives of plural nouns ending in s (well, an s or z sound, which might be an s, x, or z, but usually for a plural will be an s, and most plurals ending with s won't have it silent, but...); plural nouns not ending in s or singular nouns, including those ending in s, get ’s.

Except for the special rules for classical and Biblical names, where then the number of syllables in the base name (which then makes the s or z sound rule more interesting, because names ending with silent s, x, or z are a thing) becomes relevant because English.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/what-happens-t...

> as it's confusing even for us.

True, that.

3 comments

I looked into this exact topic a few months ago when a cake decorator friend wanted to know what to write on the cake board for "name's christening" but the child's name ended in S. I applaud the attention to detail :)
There's an article on the front page about Perl 7, I'm starting to wonder which one has the more difficult grammar ;-)