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[quote wurm]You say it as "Chris's boots", but you write it as Chris' boots. Just as I would say Jesus's sandals, but write Jesus' sandals.
This is what I remember too. When you read it, it doesn't make a difference, but when you write it, you do not repeat the S if there is another S at the end of the word.
This came up since on the local NBC station, WNBC http://www.wnbc.com/, weekdays 5-7 AM they write "Chris's Forecast", and I though it should be "Chris' Forecast". It's not about how they pronounce it, but how they write on the TV screen. Now I admit that grammar was never my strong point, and English is a second language, so there you go. I could very well be plain wrong.
BTW: When Chris had the day off, Sally does the forecast, so it's "Sally's Forecast"
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From that Wiki page, further clarification:
When the noun is a normal plural with an added s, no extra s is added in the possessive, so pens’ lids (where there is more than one pen) rather than pens’s lids.
If the plural is not one that is formed by adding s, add an s for the possessive, after the apostrophe: children’s hats, women’s hairdresser, some people’s eyes, some peoples’ recent emergence into nationhood (peoples being the plural of the singular people, here). These principles are universally accepted.
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Fire Chris.
Hir someone whose name does not end in "s".
Todd's's keyboard (Since moving to Canada is learning to put quotation marks inside of periods.)
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[quote wurm]You say it as "Chris's boots", but you write it as Chris' boots.
That is entirely incorrect.
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You'll notice that none of the people claiming that "Chris' forecast" is correct have actually cited any authority, such as quoting a stylebook.
The rule is quite clear, for both speaking and writing. Form the possessive by adding apostrophe s. There are a couple of traditional exceptions, occasioned by the double z sound that would result. Chris is not one of the exceptions.
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[quote Mr Downtown]You'll notice that none of the people claiming that "Chris' forecast" is correct have actually cited any authority, such as quoting a stylebook....
Would you accept The American Heritage Book of English Usage?
The possessive case of most proper nouns is formed according to the rules for common nouns: (singular) Eliot’s novels, Yeats’s poetry, Dostoyevsky’s biography, Velázquez’s paintings; (plural) the McCarthys’ and the Williamses’ parties, the Schwartzes’ trip. By convention, however, certain proper nouns ending in s form the possessive by adding just the apostrophe since adding -’s would make the pronunciation difficult or awkward: Jesus’ teachings, Moses’ children, Achilles’ heel Hercules’ strength, Ramses’ reign, Xerxes’ conquest.
[quote Mr Downtown]The rule is quite clear, for both speaking and writing. Form the possessive by adding apostrophe s. There are a couple of traditional exceptions, occasioned by the double z sound that would result. Chris is not one of the exceptions.
Not so clear as one might think.
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Because either can be correct, the answer depends on which stylebook you are following as your authority.
For journalists, the AP stylebook says that proper nouns ending in s need only the apostrophe, thus Chris' boots.
If you are using MLA or APA or Chicago or something else, you have to look it up there.
Groups adopt a stylebook in order to enforce consistency in such matters.
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From very, very personal experience...
...although I prefer "Christopher's" (which may just be the easiest solution using the full name of the person)...if using "Chris"...I always use: Chris'
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Chris' is proper, according to the stylebooks I was taught with, use currently, and find on most editors' desks.
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(Since moving to Canada is learning to put quotation marks inside of periods.)
Why follow the example of dumb Canadians? Smart Canadians put the period inside the quotation mark.
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