Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mack the knife]

Which use of the apostrophe is correct in this sentence:

A) Compare individual student's ideas

B) Compare individual students' ideas

It's that "individual" thing that's got me bent over the rack. What if the sentence were:

A) Compare each student's ideas

B) Compare each students' ideas

[WorldWide]

Possessive forms of nouns ending in s

The special case of non-English names ending in silent s, z, or x (e.g. Descartes) is dealt with above.

Plurals

* When the noun is a normal plural with an added s, no extra s is added in the possessive, so pens' lids (where there is more than one pen) rather than pens's lids. If the plural is not one that is formed by adding s, add an s for the possessive, after the apostrophe: children's hats, women's hairdresser, some people's eyes, some peoples' recent emergence into nationhood (peoples being the plural of the singular people, here). These principles are universally accepted.

Singulars

* Some sources require that all singular nouns, including those ending in an s, a z, or an x, have possessive forms with an extra s after the apostrophe. A prominent example is the Modern Language Association; another example is The Economist. Such sources would demand possessive plurals like these: Senator Jones's umbrella; Mephistopheles's cat.

* Other sources generally require that principle to be followed, but with exceptions:

If the singular noun is thought of as pronounced without an added s sound, do not add an extra s. (Among these are University of Delaware and The Guardian.) Such sources permit possessive plurals like these: Socrates' later suggestion; James's house, or James' house (depending on which pronunciation is used).

Specifically, many Classical, Biblical, and similar names ending in an s sound, especially if they are polysyllabic, do not take an added s in the possessive. (Among sources giving exceptions of this kind are The Times, which makes a general stipulation, and Vanderbilt University, which mentions only Moses and Jesus.)

* As a particular case, Jesus' is very commonly written instead of Jesus's, even by people who would otherwise add 's in, for example, James's or Chris's (it should be noted that the form Jesus' is referred to as "an accepted liturgical archaism" in Hart's Rules).

* Similar examples of notable names ending in an s that are often given a possessive apostrophe with no additional s include Dickens and Williams. There is often a policy of leaving off the additional s on any such name, but this can prove problematic when specific names are contradictory, for example St James' Park in Newcastle (the football ground) and the area of St James's Park in London. See points above; and for more detail on practice with geographic names, see the relevant section above.

[mack the knife]

OK. That's interesting and all, but, back to my question...

[WorldWide]

Read....learn......

[mack the knife]

Go....away......














Freak.

[Privateer]

[mack the knife]

Why would "individual" (which implies one unit) be any different than "each" (which also implies one unit)?

A) Compare individual students' ideas.

B) Compare each students' ideas.


I don't see any difference.


If this is correct:

Compare students' ideas.

Doesn't that imply that this is correct:

Compare individual student's ideas?

[out of context]

I have no idea why it is that way, but "each" functions as a determiner like "a", "the" or "this", and "individual" doesn't. "Compare individual student's ideas" is ungrammatical because "student" is countable and requires an article in the singular. But neither can you say "Compare an each student's ideas", because "each" and "an" share the same slot before the noun--both determiners, and you can't have more than one. "Compare an individual student's ideas" is grammatical, although this sounds like you're comparing various ideas from one student. And finally, it's OK, if redundant, to say "Compare each individual student's ideas".

Similarly, "every" acts like a determiner, but "all" doesn't:
Compare every student's ideas.
Compare all students' ideas.