{"id":1540,"date":"2016-10-03T22:00:49","date_gmt":"2016-10-04T02:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/?p=1540"},"modified":"2018-07-06T11:01:03","modified_gmt":"2018-07-06T15:01:03","slug":"bridget-joness-baby","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/bridget-joness-baby\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridget Jones’s Baby"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"2498143826_a8502e19d6_m\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Is the punctuation in the title of the current movie correct? Yep. Would Jones’<\/em> also be correct? Yep. Sounds complicated, so let’s approach this in baby steps. We’ll start with a name not<\/span> ending in “s” or “z,” such as Smith<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Singular, not possessive: I hired Smith.<\/em>
\nSingular and possessive: I borrowed Smith’s car.<\/em>
\nPlural, not possessive: I\u00a0bumped into the Smiths.<\/em>
\nPlural and possessive: I love the Smiths’ new home.<\/em><\/p>\n

Now for a name ending in “s” or “z”<\/h2>\n

Singular, not possessive: I hired Jones.<\/em>
\nSingular and possessive: I borrowed Jones’s <\/em>(OR Jones’<\/em>) car.<\/em>
\nPlural, not possessive:\u00a0I bumped into the Joneses.<\/em>
\nPlural and possessive:\u00a0I love the Joneses’ new home.<\/em><\/p>\n

Four postscripts<\/h2>\n

1. Because you’re right either way in making a name like Les<\/em>, Bess<\/em>, or Perez<\/em> possessive (Les’s<\/em> OR Les’<\/em>, Bess’s OR Bess’<\/em>, Perez’s<\/em> OR Perez’<\/em>, determine\u00a0your style and stick with it.<\/p>\n

2. When you don’t like the way something looks,\u00a0such as Bess’s solution<\/em> \u2013 even though it’s correct and consistent with your style\u00a0\u2013 just reword it. You might make that\u00a0Bess offered a solution<\/em>….<\/p>\n

3. Note that the most common error in handling names is yielding to the illogical temptation to insert an apostrophe in front of the “s” when making a name plural. So it’s not<\/span> We invited the Parker’s<\/span> to our picnic.<\/em> It’s We invited the Parkers<\/span> to our picnic.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

4. If you’re a masochist, you can find additional guidelines on apostrophes in names, but adhering to the grid above will keep you sane and safe.<\/p>\n

You can learn more about my workshops on writing in the workplace, individual\u00a0coaching, editing, and handbook \u2013\u00a0100+ Instant Writing Tips<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 at\u00a0http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/index.shtml<\/a>. Thank you.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is the punctuation in the title of the current movie correct? Yep. Would Jones’ also be correct? Yep. Sounds complicated, so let’s approach this in baby steps. We’ll start with a name not ending in “s” or “z,” such as … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,10],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1540"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1561,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1540\/revisions\/1561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.normfriedman.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}