If a thing belongs to Elvis, is it Elvis's or Elvis' ? I'm asking about correct spelling and punctuation, just in case that's not clear.
2006-06-25 06:46:05 · 16 answers · asked by Wilton P 5 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
Either is acceptable, though 'Elvis's' is currently favoured by grammarians, despite its relative awkwardness. The main reason is that it conforms more to spoken English.
2006-06-25 21:29:43 · answer #1 · answered by d291173 5 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Traditionally, the answer is, or would have been, Elvis' - the rule being Elvis already ends in s so for the possessive case, just add the apostrophe. However, with the total dumbing-down of the language, it's become common practice to add apostrophe s regardless of how the name ends, so nowadays Elvis's is perfectly acceptable, unfortunately.
2006-06-25 07:56:45 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
The correct way is Elvis's. Even though Elvis ends in an "s", you still need to add an apostrophe "s".
2006-06-25 06:51:12 · answer #3 · answered by crunkmyfunk5 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Elvis'
2006-06-25 08:09:22 · answer #4 · answered by Emily! 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The answer is Elvis's books; NOT Elvis' books or any such crud.
I'll quote: "Lynn Truss - Eats Shoots & Leaves"
1. Words ending in "s": Keat's Poems. Phillipa Jones's books.
2. Ancient words: Archimedes' screw.
3. Words ending in iz: Bridges' score.
4. Jesus: Jesus' disciples.
She also goes on to say that this is a matter of style, so don't get too fixated about this.
2006-06-25 07:45:50 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Ownership is dicatated by adding an apostrophe to the end of a word. For example, you would say, "Elvis' peanut butter sandwich" or "Elvis' motorcycle." Hope this helps!
2006-06-25 06:52:40 · answer #6 · answered by Lupe 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
When showing possession with any noun that ends with the letter s, add only an apostrophe.
Elvis' thing
the Joneses' house (meaning it belongs to Mr. and Mrs. Jones)
the dogs' food dish (if multiple dogs share a food dish)
Of course if the noun didn't end with the letter s you would add an apostrophe and the letter s.
2006-06-25 06:53:31 · answer #7 · answered by manda 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Elvis' Pelvis!
2006-06-25 07:21:46 · answer #8 · answered by Kasha 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it would be Elvis's I always thought you only put the apostrophe at the end with no s following if its plural example-dogs' is plural therefore you would put no s at the end
2006-06-25 11:50:55 · answer #9 · answered by et_2012_luvs_u 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think that any name or object ending in s doesn't get an extra s if it is possessive. So, therefore, go with elvis'
2006-06-25 06:50:22 · answer #10 · answered by alannafaye 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
the proper spelling and punctuation is Elvis'
2006-06-25 06:50:02 · answer #11 · answered by Plain_Common_Sense 4 · 1⤊ 1⤋