I'd appreciate it if you could vote in this poll about showing possession with names.
Many thanks
Rachael
Many thanks
Rachael
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Help Please! Showing possession with names
- Thread starter Rachael Burnett
- Start date
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There's no option in the poll for 'can't decide'...
I'm sorry if it was me who kicked off the doubt about this.
New Hart's Rules suggests that Julius's is correct, but also that an apostrophe alone may be used in cases where an additional s would cause difficulty in pronunciation.
It would be easier to choose character names which don't end in s. But Julius is a great name for your leading man.
I expect other Litopians will be more decisive about this and tell you straight.
I'm sorry if it was me who kicked off the doubt about this.
New Hart's Rules suggests that Julius's is correct, but also that an apostrophe alone may be used in cases where an additional s would cause difficulty in pronunciation.
It would be easier to choose character names which don't end in s. But Julius is a great name for your leading man.
I expect other Litopians will be more decisive about this and tell you straight.
- Thread starter
- #3
It was, but in a good way. To complicate matters, two books that I've been reading, one uses a and the other b. I'm interested to see overall what people think as both are acceptable, and I don't want to change Julius's/Julius' name (sorry).
No, please don't change his name. I love it.
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- Thread starter
- #6
I'm definitely not changing his name. For a long time he was called Grayson (or Gray as Lucia called him because it always seemed werewolfish to me), but when I changed all the other names a while back, it didn't seem to go. I do have a hard time remembering all their new names (I now have a spreadsheet). In my head most of them are their original names, and I haven't even done the final name changes for some of the characters. If it ever gets published and I'm interviewed, I will sound like I didn't write the book because I will be calling them all the wrong names.
You'll soon get used to them.
(For me, Neil was originally David in Forgotten Songs... but was Neil before I started the novel formerly known as The Superior Position... and won't be changed now.
AJ was originally Natasha, Vicky was Lisa, and Mike was spelled Meic. Wendy was Carol and then Shirley before she told me what her name really was.)
- Thread starter
- #8
Neil is perfect. The spelling of Meic made me smile, but I can see why you changed it.
I think as long as you're consistent with your choice, that's the main thing
- Thread starter
- #10
Makes sense, thanks.I think as long as you're consistent with your choice, that's the main thing
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I came here to say this. Julius' and Julius's are both correct. It's a matter of which style you prefer. So pick one and make sure its consistent.I think as long as you're consistent with your choice, that's the main thing
- Thread starter
- #12
Thanks, Nikky.
My opinion is that it is both.
In the same way that 'Grey' and 'Gray' are both correct.
In the same way that 'Grey' and 'Gray' are both correct.
- Thread starter
- #14
Thanks, Jake. Do you have a preference though.
- Thread starter
- #15
I meant to ask whether you have a preference?
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- Thread starter
- #16
I wonder if you have a preference when you're reading?I think as long as you're consistent with your choice, that's the main thing
I voted 'no preference.'
mostly because James's looks wrong to me, and James' feels like there's something missing. So, I actually don't like either lol
I voted for Julius's, not because Julius' is wrong, but because it's the way I would probably say it.
- Thread starter
- #19
Thanks, Hannah. It's interesting, when I use Read Aloud on Word, only 'Julius's' works in terms of the voice recognising possession.
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- Thread starter
- #21
Great, thanks
If you're looking for examples, see @mickleinapickle 's latest blog poem which mentions the Jones' boy rather than the Jones's boy. The latter would not have worked. I don't know if that's a choice for the metre of the poem or consistent use on the part of the poet.
- Thread starter
- #23
For those who haven’t voted yet, please take a minute to vote. Massive thanks 
I would have voted Julius' - but voting closed. So adding it here.
The poet's at fault here, @Sedayne. I'd use Jones' every time... poetry or not.
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I voted for no preference.
Related but different, what if it's a plural possessive of a name that ends in 's'.
The XXX reservations were canceled.
Where XXX is all the reservations of multiple people named "Jones"
Related but different, what if it's a plural possessive of a name that ends in 's'.
The XXX reservations were canceled.
Where XXX is all the reservations of multiple people named "Jones"
Joneses is the plural, so I'd probably go for Joneses' reservation rather than Joneses's.
I just watched an episode of Seinfeld where Elaine struggles to say "Mrs Onassis's" to comedy effect.
And how about the plural of Pontius, would that be Pontiuses? or Pontii?
You tell me
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