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Possible Duplicates:
What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in s?
Pronouncing possessive words that already end in s

How do I pronounce possessives that end with the awkward "s's" and "'s"? Examples:

I found the mistress's attitude ridiculous

These are the eggs' shells.

Which coat is Amos'?

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possible duplicate of What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in s? (the accepted answer addresses pronunciation, too) and Pronouncing possessive words that already end in s – RegDwighт♦ Apr 27 '11 at 22:30
@RegDwight the first link(What is correct...) is related but not a duplicate because it doesn't ask for the pronunciation. The second link is a bit confusing. Does Greg ask for a particular case or for the general case? If latter, I propose to change the title of the question to a clear "What is the pronunciation of the possessive words that already end in s?" added: It seems Greg is unaware that James's is also used. So we should treat it as a general question. – Theta30 Apr 30 '11 at 19:53
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@Bogdan Lataianu The answer to that question answers this question too; that is why this question is duplicate of that other question. – kiamlaluno May 11 '11 at 2:52
@kiamlaluno I agree with that – Theta30 May 11 '11 at 3:32

marked as duplicate by kiamlaluno, RegDwighт♦ Apr 30 '11 at 11:07

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.

3 Answers

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You pronounce the extra syllable when it's warranted:

... the mistress[es]

... Amos[es]

but with this one you don't:

... the eggs shells [or just eggshells]

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Yeah, it's like the pronounciation of synapses. – Alenanno Apr 27 '11 at 22:19
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I think there is a difference (an audible s) between eggs' shells" and *eggshells – Henry Apr 27 '11 at 22:56
I think there's a semantic difference too. You wouldn't often refer to eggs' shells, obviously. But if you wanted to, at least your audience would know what you said, if not what you meant. – FumbleFingers Apr 28 '11 at 0:28
..unless you are Gollum – JeffSahol Apr 28 '11 at 18:45
up vote 0 down vote

Always pronounce the "possessive 's" unless that would be a real tongue-twister.

So if a man with two mistresses wanted to speak of things he'd given to both of them, I'd advise him to drop the 's, rather than try to pronounce mistresses's with a straight face!

Okay, some people might then think he only had one mistress. But that might even be an advantage - if one of the mistressess overheard him talking about the gift[s], for example.

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-1 I think your answer in the second part is too localized, that is a particular case. – Theta30 Apr 30 '11 at 20:12
@Bogdan Lataianu: Ok, so why not give an example of a case where you think a reasonable and careful speaker would seriously attempt to either write or enunciate three consecutive s's in order to include the possessive. Admittedly my particular case was light-hearted, but that was partly to show how ridiculous things get if people slavishly stick to 'rules' in inappropriate circumstances. – FumbleFingers May 1 '11 at 2:04
Thanks for clarification. I just provided an answer, see english.stackexchange.com/questions/5913/… – Theta30 May 2 '11 at 18:46
@Bogdan Lataianu: Thank you for the reappraisal, and for what looks like an Answer worth posting. May you be an asset to EL&U, as it to you. (read with sufficient aplomb and gravitas, I assure you that's good English !-) – FumbleFingers May 2 '11 at 22:39
The system does not allow me to cancel the downvote. If you edit a bit your answer (with what you wrote in comment), I will cancel it. Thanks – Theta30 May 11 '11 at 0:58
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up vote 0 down vote

Individual words broken up by • for emphasis that each word should be spoken separately. •• indicates an intake of breath may be appropriate after saying this, as a way to force yourself to say it correctly.

I found the mistress's attitude ridiculous

I • found • the • mistresses •• attitude • ridiculous.

I presume that there are more than one mistress in reference here, which is also an oddity. I would consider this at best an exercise, and not a regular occurrence. More of a literary device for reading, than for pronunciation.

These are the eggs' shells.

These • are • the • eggs •• shells.

It's important to remember which is which, the shells need to be differentiated from the eggs, so put that extra (yet brief) pause in there.

Which coat is Amos'?

Which • coat • is • Amos? [pronounce the same as if it didn't have the apostrophe]

But note that this is not common usage, so I don't foresee this really coming up often. Mostly only as an exercise.

If it would be beneficial for me to put an IPA pronunciation under each word, say so and I shall do so.

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