By Possessives, Consonants

From The Elements of Style: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 ending in -es and -is, the possessive...

William Strunk, Jr. (1869–1946). The Elements of Style. 1918. II. ELEMENTARY RULES OF USAGE Form the possessive singular of nouns with 's. Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write, Charles's friend Burns's poems the witch's malice ...

There are three possible pronunciations of the plural ending. (The third person present tense verb forms and the possessive forms follow the same pattern.) 1. /iz/ after a sibilant. This ending creates an extra syllable. The endings for Groups 2 and 3 (below) do not create an extra...