Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[nawee]

Hello,

Do we still need the "s" after the apostrophe when it follows a name that already ends in an "s"?

a) Chris' father

b) Chris's father

Thank you,

Nawee

[tyreless]

Hello nawee its a)
Chris' father
David
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[CP]

I have to disagree. People do often just put an apostrophe there, without the s, but as Strunk and White would say, there is no real reason to treat Chris different from John. If it is John's hat, why can't it be Chris's shoe? No reason at all.

Some people would write it as Fritz' car, or Max' boat, but why should we not write it as Fritz's car and Max's boat--which not only follows the usual rule, but reflects the way we say it as well? Same with Chris's shoe, which we pronounce as though it were spelled Chrisses shoe.
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