I mean, come ON, this is covered in RULE 1 (!!!) of Strunk and White
(The Elements of Style).
- With the exception of ancient references (primarily "Jesus'"), ALL
posessive singular nouns should use 's.
- ALL plural nouns use s'.
So you don't have to pull out your Strunk and White, I typed it out here
for you:
--------
1. Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding 's.
Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write,
Charles's friend
Burns's poems
the witch's malice
Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in -es and -is,
the possessive Jesus', and such forms as "for conscience' sake", "for
righteousness' sake". But such forms as Moses' Laws, Isis' temple are
commonly replaced by
the laws of Moses
the temple of Isis
the pronomial posessives hers, its, theirs, yours, and ours have no
apostrophe. Indefinite pronouns, however, use the apostrophe to show
posession.
one's rights
somebody else's umbrella
A common error is to write it's for its, or vice versa. The first is a
contraction, meaning "it is." The second is a possessive.
It's a wise dog that scratches its own fleas.
--------
Sean
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