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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Please do me a favor!
Please do me a favor!
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ngthsang
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Please do me a favor!
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WHich is correct? "This is my boss � car." OR"This is my boss �s car" Thanks a lot. |
23 Jan 2017
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cunliffe
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Only �this is my boss �s car � is correct. You must include the apostrophe s. |
24 Jan 2017
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douglas
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It �s a debated topic, but a significant majority (including myself) say you always add aprostophe �s� to a singular noun. So "my boss�s" would be correct.
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24 Jan 2017
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yanogator
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I agree with Douglas. Also, it makes teaching possessives much easier to have only one rule for all singular possessives. I was just reading an article at Grammarphobia about it. I like their reasoning that if you pronounce it the same as "bosses", then it doesn �t make sense to spell it without adding the s after the apostrophe.
Note: The link to Grammarphobia just takes you to their site, not to the article I was reading. Bruce
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24 Jan 2017
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cunliffe
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This is my boss car � is Northern English for �this is the best car ever. �
Edit: I think this business is now resolved - I remember it being taught as optional when I was at school some time before the Punic Wars - and you do need the �s. There are a few exceptions - St James� Hospital comes to mind and there may be one or two other examples, but they seem strange nowadays. |
24 Jan 2017
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a2king
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@ Bruce- Can you explain more about what you said?
I have thought that the way we are writing (spelling) based on our pronunciation.
For example: The boys � s toys --> this one is difficult for us to pronounce, because it contains 2 sounds /s/ at the same time. So native speakers will eliminate 1 sound /s/. And that is the reason why we have "The boys � toys".
But with the singular nouns ending with /s/, we can optionally put 1 or 2 letters S. For example:
1) My boss �s office = my boss � office. --> but when I teach my students, I always say that in written language, we should write 2 letters S for this case, because we have the rule that: "you always add aprostophe �s� to a singular noun". However, in spoken language, we just pronounce 1 sound /s/, the natives can understand us. 2) The Smiths �s house = The Smiths � house. --> in this case, 1 letter S is enough, because "The Smiths" is a plural noun.
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26 Jan 2017
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yanogator
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I see you are a little confused. It has less to do with pronunciation than you think. With plural nouns ending in s, you add only an apostrophe, and the pronunciation doesn �t change. The boys � is pronounced the same as The boys and The boy �s. These are the boys � toys. These are the boy �s toys. These toys belong to the boys. (The pronunciation is the same in all three cases) Although it isn �t actually a rule, I think it is good that you teach your students always to use �s for singular nouns, but I want to emphasize that the s is pronounced. So the possessive "boss �s" and the plural "bosses" are pronounced the same. That is the point of the Grammarphobia article - that it makes more sense to write " boss �s " than to write " boss � ", because the "extra" s is going to be pronounced with either spelling. I hope this helps you. Bruce |
26 Jan 2017
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a2king
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@Bruce - Your answer is perfectly clear. Thanks for your explanation.  |
27 Jan 2017
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