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Latest post Sun, Apr 23 2006 10:20 AM by Mister Micawber. 1 replies.
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Davidrock65  +  218922 Sun, 23 Apr 06 09:31 AM

1. How do you pronounce friends' friend? Do you pronounce them as /friends friend/ or  /friendsis friend/. I heard people pronounce it as /friends friend/ .   Shouldn't  it be pronounced as  /friendsis friend/ in the plural form?   What about girls' school? /girls school/? If you pronounce it in the singular form, how am I supposed to know if it's a girl or girls? Please explain. TKS!!

2. Do you write my boss' books or my boss's book? And do you pronounce it as /bos/ or /bossis/ ? The same goes with names, such as Jones's / Jones' ( /jonz/ or /jonzis/ )Diary,  Jess/ Jess's ( /jes/ or /jesis/ )book?

My newfew's name is Dollars ( you might find it weird.  It's based on his Chinese name)

I am so confused about which way I should write and pronounce possessive nouns as mentioned above.

I teach children English , so it's important that I pronounce and write correctly.

Much obliged to you for your help.
Davidrock65
Joined on Wed, Apr 19 2006
taipei
Full Member 237
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Mister Micawber  +  218935 Sun, 23 Apr 06 10:20 AM

1-- /frendz frend/  and  /gurlz sku:l/-- You are supposed to know whether it is singular or plural by the context:  She goes to a girls' school.  A girl's school is her best source of knowledge.  The /iz/ pronunciation is only used for singular words that end in sibilants-- /s/, /z/, /sh/, /zh/.

2-- Boss's, Jones's, Jess's are the current preferred forms, though boss', etc, is still used by some.  Most manuals now reserve s' for classical names like Jesus' cross, Socrates' hemlock.
Mister Micawber
Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004
Yokohama
Veteran Member 30,493
'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.'
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