Is this the correct usage of an apostrophe after "s"?

billwillbillwill Registered User regular
edited December 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
"Black-Eyed Peas' grunts and moans and other monosyllables"

I want to say it's wrong, since "Black-Eyed Peas" refers to a single music group, not multiple peas. Of course, I could be wrong about why it would be wrong, so I turn to you, H/A, for help.

I hate you and you hate me.
billwill on

Posts

  • DeebaserDeebaser on my way to work in a suit and a tie Ahhhh...come on fucking guyRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    billwill wrote: »
    "Black-Eyed Peas' grunts and moans and other monosyllables"

    I want to say it's wrong, since "Black-Eyed Peas" refers to a single music group, not multiple peas. Of course, I could be wrong about why it would be wrong, so I turn to you, H/A, for help.

    Black-Eyed Peas's, although I would probably try and get rid of the possessive form altogether as it just looks off either way.

    Deebaser on
  • Dance CommanderDance Commander Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Both s's and s' are acceptable forms of possessive pluralization these days, but one makes you look like an inbred yokel and one doesn't.
    I believe it is correct as written.

    Dance Commander on
  • bsjezzbsjezz Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Deebaser wrote: »
    get rid of the possessive form altogether as it just looks off either way.

    yeah, my first thought was to restructure it as "the grunts, moans and other monosyllables of the Black Eyed Peas" if that works in the context

    bsjezz on
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  • billwillbillwill Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    This isn't something I've written.

    Its something my super smart friend posted on facebook, and it is on my bucket list to catch him with improper grammar. I've been waiting THREE YEARS.

    billwill on
    I hate you and you hate me.
  • LadyMLadyM Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    A single apostrophe after a word that already ends in "s" is correct grammar. The kids' playground (multiple kids), Jesus' sandals, etc.

    Some people add another S after the apostrophe (Jesus's), but I think that looks unbalanced.

    LadyM on
  • DemerdarDemerdar Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Yeah, it looks fine in the OP :^:

    Demerdar on
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  • RaneadosRaneados police apologist you shouldn't have been there, obviouslyRegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Black-Eyed Peas'

    is correct

    Raneados on
  • The CatThe Cat Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited December 2009
    its correct, but reads awkwardly. I'd rearrange the whole sentence.

    The Cat on
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  • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    bsjezz wrote: »
    Deebaser wrote: »
    get rid of the possessive form altogether as it just looks off either way.

    yeah, my first thought was to restructure it as "the grunts, moans and other monosyllables of the Black Eyed Peas" if that works in the context

    I'd take out the word "other" the meaning only suffers if you analyze it closely, and it flows much better.

    admanb on
  • RubberACRubberAC Sidney BC!Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    RubberAC on
  • MagicPrimeMagicPrime FiresideWizard Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    The confusion comes from "The Black-eyed Peas" being a noun phrase that happens to end in a plural. Although the last part is indeed the plural form of the word "pea" the noun phrase itself isn't plural.

    Not every word that ends in s gets the s' treatment. And in some situation the s's is the correct form.

    Long and Short of it. Both are acceptable.

    MagicPrime on
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  • XaiXai Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Black eyed pease pudding

    Xai on
  • ueanuean Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    MagicPrime wrote: »
    The confusion comes from "The Black-eyed Peas" being a noun phrase that happens to end in a plural. Although the last part is indeed the plural form of the word "pea" the noun phrase itself isn't plural.

    Not every word that ends in s gets the s' treatment. And in some situation the s's is the correct form.[

    Long and Short of it. Both are acceptable.

    Urm?

    Yes, every word that ends in an s gets the s' treatment when the context is possessive.

    I also believe Jesus's was the only acceptable form of s's for awhile, but its now accepted mainstream for everything.

    uean on
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  • mtsmts Dr. Robot King Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    i think the confusion comes from the actual syntax of the sentence rather than the apostrophe

    mts on
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  • MagicPrimeMagicPrime FiresideWizard Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    uean wrote: »
    MagicPrime wrote: »
    The confusion comes from "The Black-eyed Peas" being a noun phrase that happens to end in a plural. Although the last part is indeed the plural form of the word "pea" the noun phrase itself isn't plural.

    Not every word that ends in s gets the s' treatment. And in some situation the s's is the correct form.[

    Long and Short of it. Both are acceptable.

    Urm?

    Yes, every word that ends in an s gets the s' treatment when the context is possessive.

    I also believe Jesus's was the only acceptable form of s's for awhile, but its now accepted mainstream for everything.

    Regular plural nouns yes. The confusion comes with names.

    "Thomas' bike" vs. "Thomas's bike"

    MagicPrime on
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    Critical Failures - Havenhold CampaignAugust St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
  • ueanuean Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    mts wrote: »
    i think the confusion comes from the actual syntax of the sentence rather than the apostrophe

    I'm with you on that.

    The way that sentence is constructed, it requires reading twice. Maybe a preceding "The", or some quotations, or both.... grunts and moans don't seem to be something that can be owned. At least, not the way it was written there.

    Anyway, Im through discussing grunting and moaning. Smack your friend for a terrible sentence, if not for grammar, then structure, and if for neither of those, then for this thread.

    uean on
    Guys? Hay guys?
    PSN - sumowot
  • MagicPrimeMagicPrime FiresideWizard Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Yeah, if I was confronted with this problem of grammar I would have just rephrased the sentence to avoid the problem.

    MagicPrime on
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    Critical Failures - Havenhold CampaignAugust St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
  • saint2esaint2e Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    uean wrote: »
    mts wrote: »
    i think the confusion comes from the actual syntax of the sentence rather than the apostrophe

    I'm with you on that.

    The way that sentence is constructed, it requires reading twice. Maybe a preceding "The", or some quotations, or both.... grunts and moans don't seem to be something that can be owned. At least, not the way it was written there.

    Anyway, Im through discussing grunting and moaning. Smack your friend for a terrible sentence, if not for grammar, then structure, and if for neither of those, then for this thread.

    Also accent your smack by following up by saying "Boom Boom Pow!".

    saint2e on
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  • MagnumCTMagnumCT Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    MagicPrime wrote: »
    uean wrote: »
    MagicPrime wrote: »
    The confusion comes from "The Black-eyed Peas" being a noun phrase that happens to end in a plural. Although the last part is indeed the plural form of the word "pea" the noun phrase itself isn't plural.

    Not every word that ends in s gets the s' treatment. And in some situation the s's is the correct form.[

    Long and Short of it. Both are acceptable.

    Urm?

    Yes, every word that ends in an s gets the s' treatment when the context is possessive.

    I also believe Jesus's was the only acceptable form of s's for awhile, but its now accepted mainstream for everything.

    Regular plural nouns yes. The confusion comes with names.

    "Thomas' bike" vs. "Thomas's bike"

    WFB said to go with "'s" for everything but plurals. That satisfies me on the debate.

    MagnumCT on
  • CowSharkCowShark Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    I remember having a talk about this with an English prof, and this rule is still up in the air, depending on who you listen to.

    Pick whatever! The main point is to be consistent in any given piece of writing, with how you handle them.

    Some rulings:
    1. If it ends in "s," use the apostrophe after the "s" every time. Simple is best.
    2. If it's singular, use the apostrophe, then append another "s" every time. Simple is best.
    3. (Seems convoluted, but is a favorite, because of the way it reads) For singular possessives that end in "s," add an apostrophe and an "s" if the noun ends with an unvoiced sound (Jesus's hat), and an apostrophe by itself if it's voiced (Socrates' coat).

    CowShark on
  • RendRend Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    billwill wrote: »
    This isn't something I've written.

    Its something my super smart friend posted on facebook, and it is on my bucket list to catch him with improper grammar. I've been waiting THREE YEARS.

    You could point out that the word 'and' is only used at the end of a list of 3 or more things.

    He has "Grunts and moans and monosyllables," where correct grammar would have it be:

    1. "Grunts, moans, and monosyllables"
    or
    2. "Grunts, moans and monosyllables"

    unless "grunts and moans" is a single object, or "moans and monosyllables" is a single object, neither of which appear to be the case.

    This could be attributed to styling, but hey, people break the rules for style all the time. If you are just looking for a rule break, there's one there.

    Rend on
  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    My English teacher told me that it's s's if there are...two or less syllables, I think?

    Zombiemambo on
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  • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    My English teacher told me that it's s's if there are...two or less syllables, I think?

    O_o

    admanb on
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    CowShark wrote: »
    3. (Seems convoluted, but is a favorite, because of the way it reads) For singular possessives that end in "s," add an apostrophe and an "s" if the noun ends with an unvoiced sound (Jesus's hat), and an apostrophe by itself if it's voiced (Socrates' coat).
    Aren't both of those voiced?

    UncleSporky on
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  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    admanb wrote: »
    My English teacher told me that it's s's if there are...two or less syllables, I think?

    O_o

    I'm probably really wrong here. It made sense at the time. I have notes somewhere.

    Zombiemambo on
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  • CowSharkCowShark Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    CowShark wrote: »
    3. (Seems convoluted, but is a favorite, because of the way it reads) For singular possessives that end in "s," add an apostrophe and an "s" if the noun ends with an unvoiced sound (Jesus's hat), and an apostrophe by itself if it's voiced (Socrates' coat).
    Aren't both of those voiced?

    Voiced - 'zzz' sound
    Unvoiced - 'sss' sound

    Do people pronounce Jesus and Socrates differently than I do, these days?

    CowShark on
  • ZombiemamboZombiemambo Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    CowShark wrote: »
    CowShark wrote: »
    3. (Seems convoluted, but is a favorite, because of the way it reads) For singular possessives that end in "s," add an apostrophe and an "s" if the noun ends with an unvoiced sound (Jesus's hat), and an apostrophe by itself if it's voiced (Socrates' coat).
    Aren't both of those voiced?

    Voiced - 'zzz' sound
    Unvoiced - 'sss' sound

    Do people pronounce Jesus and Socrates differently than I do, these days?

    'J-Dawg' and 'Socratizzle'

    Zombiemambo on
    JKKaAGp.png
  • HaukyHauky Registered User regular
    edited December 2009
    admanb wrote: »
    My English teacher told me that it's s's if there are...two or less syllables, I think?

    O_o

    I learned this as well--from a book, no less. Granted, it was in elementary school 15 years ago, and I've never actually seen it written that way outside of that one book, but there you go.

    Hauky on
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  • admanbadmanb unionize your workplace Seattle, WARegistered User regular
    edited December 2009
    Hauky wrote: »
    admanb wrote: »
    My English teacher told me that it's s's if there are...two or less syllables, I think?

    O_o

    I learned this as well--from a book, no less. Granted, it was in elementary school 15 years ago, and I've never actually seen it written that way outside of that one book, but there you go.

    I think it's one of those rules that has disappeared into obscurity. I, for one, will not mourn its passing.

    admanb on
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