In some cases, particularly in names, the extra ‘s’ can be
omitted when there is a single ‘s’ at the end of the word.
His Achilles’ tendon was torn.
His father mended James’ toy engine.
Some of Dickens’ novels have been televised.Making a plural noun possessive
To make a noun plural, you usually have to add an ‘s’.
Because the ‘s’ is already there, you do not need to add one
when putting in the apostrophe. Put the apostropheafter
the ‘s’.
The ladies’ cloakroom was closed for renovation.
The boys’ playground was flooded.Put the apostropheafterthe ‘s’ when plural.Remembering to add ‘es’
Don’t forget to add ‘es’ if the word ends in double ‘s’.
The duchesses’ hats were spectacular.
The waitresses’ aprons were dirty.Donotuse an apostrophe merely because the noun
is plural; for example, ‘potatoes’ for sale’ is
incorrect.There are a number of words which donotadd an ‘s’ for the
plural. In some cases the word is changed.
HANDLING APOSTROPHES AND ABBREVIATIONS / 97