Ask the Editor will be on the 3rd Monday of the month. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure and more! I will showcase questions and answers. To ask a question, please fill out the form below.
I've been a freelance editor since November 2010. If I don't know the answer, I will find it.
Christine Rains asks, “It deals with
using an apostrophe with a word that has an 's' at the end of it. Years ago, I
was taught when you add an apostrophe to the end of say, Rains, you do it like
this: Rains'. You don't add the extra 's.' Yet these days, I see the extra 's'
being added. Have the rules changed again and now it's proper to add that extra
's'? Also, how would you properly pluralize a last name like mine: Rainses,
Rains', or Rains's?”
For the first part of your question: With general words ending in -s, you can either do just an
apostrophe or an apostrophe + s as long as you are consistent, such as Severus'
or Severus's.
To plural a last name, you never use an apostrophe, since apostrophes show possession or contractions. To plural your last name, though, you'll do Rainses. If you wanted to say someone was going to your home, you would then use the apostrophe and say, "We're going to the Rainses' today."
For a great website on plurals, click here.
