Question for the grammar Nazis

[Not Afraid]

I ALWAYS use the "s"- apostrophe. I have to deal with it any time my husband "owns" something. Chris' car. Chris' closet. Etc.

[Ghoulish Delight]

See, that's a case where I'd definitely use Chris's. "Chrises" sounds just fine to me, so I use it.

Unless you're saying you say "Chrises" but write Chris'? That's just weird.

[€uroMeinke]

I write Chris' when I talk about my stuff in the third person

[innerSpaceman]

It's a good thing Bob Dole never had this problem.

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Unless you're saying you say "Chrises" but write Chris'? That's just weird.

It's pretty standard grammatical practice. Chris' is pronounced "chrises." Powers' is pronounced "powerses." I can't find a single reliable grammar reference source online that promotes use of s's because of pronunciation.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Originally Posted by LSPoorEeyorick

I know MBC discovered recently that there's a semi-accepted standard to use s-apostrophe-s for religious figures (Jesus's, Moses's, etc) but I think that's pretty silly.

Actually, I think I was misunderstood. I was actually saying the opposite. According to good ol' Strunk and White:

1. Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding 's. Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write,

Charles's friend
Burns's Poem
the witch's malice

Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names ending in -es and -is, the possessive Jesus', and such forms as for conscience' sake, for righteousness' sake. But such forms as Moses' Laws, Isis' temple are commonly replaced with,

The laws of Moses
The temple of Isis

[flippyshark]

Originally Posted by Kevy Baby

If you were talking (well, writing) about the web site that belonged to XYZ Productions, would it be

XYZ Productions' web site or
XYZ Productions's web site

In this specific case, I would choose to avoid the problem altogether by adding a definite article to the whole thing and avoiding the possessive.

"Look us up on the XYZ Productions web site!"

If I read a sentence and hear something like "productionzez" in my head, I do just such an end run. Also, for whatever reason, the possessive attached to a person's name, (Chris's) sounds more natural than when used with, say, a corporate name. ("That's the Shotz Brewery," as opposed to "That's Shotz's Brewery")

Also, given that you are (very sensibly) asking for grammar advice, should you really be calling these helpful souls Nazis? In this instance, shouldn't they be your Grammar Friends? Huggy Plush Grammar Pals?

[lindyhop]

I've always thought that an apostophe at the end of a word just hanging there all limp and useless didn't look right, unfinished somehow. So I decided to always use 's.

Of course I usually rewrite the sentence to avoid the issue entirely.

[innerSpaceman]

Maybe if you stroke the apostrophe, it won't continue to hang there all limp and useless.

[Gn2Dlnd]

!