What’s the possessive of a name ending in “s”?

You normally form a possessive noun from a singular noun by adding an apostrophe and an “s,” but there’s disagreement about how to form the possessive of a name like “James.”

Most style guides recommend adding the apostrophe and “s” like normal: James’s. But some argue that it should depend on which version feels most natural to pronounce, so that you could instead write James’, without the additional “s.”

We recommend the first approach, adding the “s” consistently, as it’s recommended by most authorities. Whatever you choose, be consistent about how you form the possessive of a particular name. Don’t write James’ at some points and James’s at others.

Frequently asked questions: Nouns and pronouns

What is a possessive noun?: A possessive noun is a noun like “farmer’s” that is used to indicate ownership (possession). It normally comes before another noun that indicates the thing possessed (e.g., “the farmer’s pitchfork”).

Possessive nouns are formed from regular nouns by adding an apostrophe followed by an “s,” or, in the case of plural nouns that already end in “s,” by just adding an apostrophe.
What does “possessive” mean?: Possessive is an adjective meaning “jealous” or “having the desire to own or dominate.” In a grammatical sense, it’s used as a noun or adjective referring to the ways in which possession (ownership) is shown in language.

Some grammatical concepts involving the word are possessive pronouns (e.g., “my”), possessive nouns (e.g., “Steven’s”), possessive apostrophes (apostrophes like the one in “Steven’s”), and possessive case (how words show possession in general).
What is the plural of “moose”?: The plural of “moose” is the same as the singular: “moose.” It’s one of a group of plural nouns in English that are identical to the corresponding singular nouns. So it’s wrong to write “mooses.”

For example, you might write “There are several moose in the forest.”
What is the plural of “octopus”?: The correct plural of “octopus” is “octopuses.”

People often write “octopi” instead because they assume that the plural noun is formed in the same way as Latin loanwords such as “fungus/fungi.” But “octopus” actually comes from Greek, where its original plural is “octopodes.” In English, it instead has the regular plural form “octopuses.”

For example, you might write “There are four octopuses in the aquarium.”
What is the plural of “fish”?: Normally, the plural of “fish” is the same as the singular: “fish.” It’s one of a group of irregular plural nouns in English that are identical to the corresponding singular nouns (e.g., “moose,” “sheep”). For example, you might write “The fish scatter as the shark approaches.”

If you’re referring to several species of fish, though, the regular plural “fishes” is often used instead. For example, “The aquarium contains many different fishes, including trout and carp.”
What is the plural of “crisis”?: The plural of “crisis” is “crises.” It’s a loanword from Latin and retains its original Latin plural noun form (similar to “analyses” and “bases”). It’s wrong to write “crisises.”

For example, you might write “Several crises destabilized the regime.”
What is the definition of a collective noun?: A collective noun is any noun that is used to name a group of something (people, animals, things, etc.). “Group” is one very common collective noun. Collective nouns can be common nouns (like “group”) or proper nouns (like “Google” and other company names).
Are collective nouns singular or plural?: Collective nouns are most commonly treated as singular (e.g., “the herd is grazing”), but usage differs between US and UK English:

In US English, it’s standard to treat all collective nouns as singular, even when they are plural in appearance (e.g., “The Rolling Stones is …”). Using the plural form is usually seen as incorrect.

In UK English, collective nouns can be treated as singular or plural depending on context. It’s quite common to use the plural form, especially when the noun looks plural (e.g., “The Rolling Stones are …”).
Are academic concepts capitalized?: No, as a general rule, academic concepts, disciplines, theories, models, etc. are treated as common nouns, not proper nouns, and therefore not capitalized. For example, “five-factor model of personality” or “analytic philosophy.”

However, proper nouns that appear within the name of an academic concept (such as the name of the inventor) are capitalized as usual. For example, “Darwin’s theory of evolution” or “Student’s t table.”
Are seasons capitalized?: The names of seasons (e.g., “spring”) are treated as common nouns in English and therefore not capitalized. People often assume they are proper nouns, but this is an error.

The names of days and months, however, are capitalized since they’re treated as proper nouns in English (e.g., “Wednesday,” “January”).
What is a proper adjective?: A proper adjective is an adjective that was derived from a proper noun and is therefore capitalized.

Proper adjectives include words for nationalities, languages, and ethnicities (e.g., “Japanese,” “Inuit,” “French”) and words derived from people’s names (e.g., “Bayesian,” “Orwellian”).
What’s the difference between common and proper nouns?: Common nouns are words for types of things, people, and places, such as “dog,” “professor,” and “city.” They are not capitalized and are typically used in combination with articles and other determiners.

Proper nouns are words for specific things, people, and places, such as “Max,” “Dr. Prakash,” and “London.” They are always capitalized and usually aren’t combined with articles and other determiners.
What’s the difference between a noun and a pronoun?: Pronouns are words like “I,” “she,” and “they” that are used in a similar way to nouns. They stand in for a noun that has already been mentioned or refer to yourself and other people.

Pronouns can function just like nouns as the head of a noun phrase and as the subject or object of a verb. However, pronouns change their forms (e.g., from “I” to “me”) depending on the grammatical context they’re used in, whereas nouns usually don’t.
What are the different types of nouns?: There are many ways to categorize nouns into various types, and the same noun can fall into multiple categories or even change types depending on context.

Some of the main types of nouns are:

Common and proper nouns

Countable and uncountable nouns

Concrete and abstract nouns

Collective nouns

Possessive nouns

Gerunds

Attributive nouns

Appositive nouns

Generic nouns
What is the definition of a noun?: A noun is a word that represents a person, thing, concept, or place (e.g., “John,” “house,” “affinity,” “river”). Most sentences contain at least one noun or pronoun.

Nouns are often, but not always, preceded by an article (“the,” “a,” or “an”) and/or another determiner such as an adjective.

Questions?

Ask our team

Want to contact us directly? No problem. We are always here for you.

Frequently asked questions

See all

How does Scribbr help students graduate?: Our team helps students graduate by offering:

A world-class citation generator

Plagiarism Checker software powered by Turnitin

Innovative Citation Checker software

Professional proofreading services

Over 300 helpful articles about academic writing, citing sources, plagiarism, and more
What type of documents does Scribbr proofread?: Scribbr specializes in editing study-related documents. We proofread:

Essays

Papers

Theses

PhD dissertations

Research proposals

Personal statements

Admission essays

Motivation letters

Reports

Reflection papers

Journal articles

Capstone projects
What plagiarism and AI detection software does Scribbr use?: Scribbr’s Plagiarism Checker is powered by elements of Turnitin’s Similarity Checker, namely the plagiarism detection software and the Internet Archive and Premium Scholarly Publications content databases.

The add-on AI detector is powered by Scribbr’s proprietary software.
Which citation software does Scribbr use?: The Scribbr Citation Generator is developed using the open-source Citation Style Language (CSL) project and Frank Bennett’s citeproc-js. It’s the same technology used by dozens of other popular citation tools, including Mendeley and Zotero.

You can find all the citation styles and locales used in the Scribbr Citation Generator in our publicly accessible repository on Github.