In our discussion last week, we looked at the use of the apostrophe -s (’s) to indicate ownership, etc, where proper nouns are concerned.
The problem with proper nouns and the use of the apostrophe -s (’s), we said, concerned those proper nouns which end with -s.
We said that if a proper noun or name ends with -s but the last syllable of that name does not begin with the -s sound, we indicate ownership, relationship, association, authorship, etc, by adding apostrophe -s (’s) to that name, as in Denis’s house Charles’s mother, James’s school, etc.
As I said last week, we should not confuse names that end with -s with plural common nouns that end with -s.
For plural nouns that end with -s, we only add the apostrophe (’) to indicate ownership, etc, as in: Ladies’ night out, the boys’ dormitory, etc.
For proper nouns or names such as Moses, Jesus and Francis, we indicate ownership, etc, by adding only the apostrophe (’).
This is because while these names end with -s, their last syllables also begin with the -s sound.
So we write: Moses’ rod, Jesus’ death, Francis’ school.
Note that these and other such names are the only ones that add only the apostrophe (’) to indicate ownership, etc.
Now, sometimes we must indicate ownership, relationship, etc for two persons.
If two persons possess a thing, are related to a person, are associated with a person, etc, it is the second name mentioned which must carry the apostrophe -s (’s), as in Peter and Kwasi’s school, Mr Opoku and his wife’s car, Kate and Rita’s father, Romeo and Dan’s ball.
If the two persons possess two things, are related to two persons, etc, both names attract the apostrophe -s (’s), as in: Peter’s and Kwasi’s schools (that is, they attend separate schools), Mr Opoku’s and his wife’s cars, Kate’s and Musah’s fathers, Romeo’s and Dan’s balls.
