Do you write: My mother’s- in- law Southern hospitality or My mother- in- law's Southern hospitality?

Hi, this is the part of grammar that confuses me the most. For names ending in -s is it always good form to add the s' at the end? For example: Thomas' dog or Charles' house or are there exceptions? P.S. I sometimes see written down:

I'm debating with a friend about their use of an apostrophe to form a contraction. I'm aware of this rule: -- 3. Pronouns and nouns with the verb to be. Examples: I'm you're who's (i.e., who is) he's she's it's

With tongue firmly in cheek, here are some rules to keep in mind when using the Queen's English: 1. Verbs has to agree with their subjects. 2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with. 3. And don't start a sentence with a

Many thanks Grammar Geek, Your reply makes for great relief as I had had conflicting advice and the prospect of correcting a 400 page MSS was not an appealing one! Regards Peter

But can you tell me why is "began" wrong here? And should we use "have <verb>" with similar sentences having the since clause. To be honest, it doesn't strike me as wrong, but I think the test-makers prefer you to use

Thank you Grammar Geek for your help. @To All: I have another question and I don't want to post another topic so I will ask here, please help me out. How do you know when to use and when not to use the apostrophe " 's " to

Question: I would have written ''Clinton's turmoil''. Why didn't the author use apostrophe? It is a headline - they do not use standard grammar. Question: Why is semicolon used instead of comma to separate the email

Evening! I'm an author and dislike the everchanging rules of grammar as much as anyone else does. Grammar was invented to facilitate communication, especially written communication when voice inflection cannot be heard. However, I write

According to the Gregg Reference Manual: "To form the possessive of a singular noun that ends in an s sound, be guided by the way you pronounce the word. If a new syllable is formed in the pronunciation of the possessive, add an apostrophe