Possessive Apostrophes

Possessive apostrophes can be quite tricksy, especially with words that end in s and with plurals. It’s easiest to see how they work by looking at a few examples.

Let’s use the Rhodes family as our first example.

The Rhodes own a Volkswagon.

Let’s ride in the Rhodeses’ Volkswagon.*

*This plural possessive can be confusing. If we assume that the Volkswagon belongs to the whole Rhodes family, we must make it plural (add es) before adding the possessive. Another example: The classes all took an exam. The classes’ scores were excellent.

Now let’s talk about someone named Bess.

Bess owns a Vespa.

Let’s ride on Bess’ Vespa.

or

Let’s ride on Bess’s Vespa.

Filed under: Apostrophes, Plurals, Punctuation

Identify the Error

It’s time for another round of “find the mistake.” A really fabulous prize came into my possession, and I’m excited to see who is going to win it.

So. What’s wrong with this passage? (Your hint is that, unlike last time, it’s a detail.)

To accommodate the established tunnel clearances, a 33.5-foot-diameter TBM would be required. Given the short length of the mined tunnel section (only about 3,200 feet) and the cost of TBM’s of this size, TBM methods would not be cost effective.

Filed under: Apostrophes, Find the Error Challenges, Plurals