Grammatical assistance required

[Woodchip]

HELP!!!!

I'm in the middle of writing a wind-up poster for some-one at work and need a bit of grammtical help.

Iwant to write that they are Sussex's Finest Dungeonmaster, but shoud it be Sussex, Sussex' or Sussex's?

I'm sure LI will advice me, but I'll let everyone else have a chance.

 

[Basil Fawlty]

Have you been watching to much Knightmare?

 

[Woodchip]

It's slightly more twisted than that.

 

[Sonic]

I would say Sussex's. It's the dungeonmaster relating to Sussex, and Sussex doesn't end in an s, so 's would seem to apply. I'm sure someone will tell me I'm wrong though.

 

[fatbadger]

I would say Sussex's. It's the dungeonmaster relating to Sussex, and Sussex doesn't end in an s, so 's would seem to apply. I'm sure someone will tell me I'm wrong though.

Absolutely spot on.

 

[Locky]

I would have reworded it:

Finest Dungeonmaster in Sussex.

 

[London Irish]

The rule of thumb we employ at my workplace is that if we "sound" the possessive s in speech, then we write it. So Sussex's would be correct, although I don't think it is a hard and fast grammatical rule, just a "style".

There are are a few possessives where the s is not sounded so not written by us, but I'll be damned if I can think of any at the mo.

 

[The Large One]

There are are a few possessives where the s is not sounded so not written by us, but I'll be damned if I can think of any at the mo.

Jesus.

For some reason, his possessive is pronounced 'Jeez use'

 

[fatbadger]

The rule of thumb we employ at my workplace is that if we "sound" the possessive s in speech, then we write it. So Sussex's would be correct, although I don't think it is a hard and fast grammatical rule, just a "style".

There are are a few possessives where the s is not sounded so not written by us, but I'll be damned if I can think of any at the mo.

Hart's and Fowler's are both very sure on this. It is 's in all examples in the singular, except Jesus', classical names (Socrates', Xerxes', etc), and historical usage (e.g. an old street name of St Thomas' Well or St Thomas Well, when modern usage should be St Thomas's Well). It's about as hard and fast a punctuation rule as there is.

 

[The Large One]

Or football...

'and he rose at the back post to score Hearts' injury time winner at Aberdeen...'

 

[Woodchip]

Thanks for the english lesson guys. I settled for Sussex's Finest after Sonic's post. I knew LI would have an opinion.

Thread can now be closed.

 

[London Irish]

Hart's and Fowler's are both very sure on this. It is 's in all examples in the singular, except Jesus', classical names (Socrates', Xerxes', etc), and historical usage (e.g. an old street name of St Thomas' Well or St Thomas Well, when modern usage should be St Thomas's Well). It's about as hard and fast a punctuation rule as there is.

Excellent answer, but I can think of other exceptions, and I'm in a story about this company now, Siemens, which as a company is of course singular.

Siemens's or Siemens' results?

My newspaper style guide says Siemens' results even though it is singular.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

HELP!!!!

I'm in the middle of writing a wind-up poster for some-one at work and need a bit of grammtical help.

Iwant to write that they are Sussex's Finest Dungeonmaster, but shoud it be Sussex, Sussex' or Sussex's?

That's the LEAST of your worries, matey.

What about 'some-one'

Or 'grammtical'

Or 'shoud'

And how do you write a poster?

 

[Woodchip]

Re: Re: Grammatical assistance required

That's the LEAST of your worries, matey.

What about 'some-one'

Or 'grammtical'

Or 'shoud'

And how do you write a poster?

THPH,


P.S. Tap on Saturday before the game?

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Re: Re: Re: Grammatical assistance required

THPH,


P.S. Tap on Saturday before the game?

MORON! you can't even spell THPP FFS

 

[Woodchip]

 

[RexCathedra]

Fowler's

The good, old, Fowler's or the bad new Fowler's -- which isn't even by Fowler?

 

[fatbadger]

Fowler's

The good, old, Fowler's or the bad new Fowler's -- which isn't even by Fowler?

Both!

What's your beef with the very good new Fowler's (i.e. Burchfield's)?

 

[fatbadger]

Excellent answer, but I can think of other exceptions, and I'm in a story about this company now, Siemens, which as a company is of course singular.

Siemens's or Siemens' results?

My newspaper style guide says Siemens' results even though it is singular.

Interesting that your newspaper style guide says that. Again, Hart's and Fowler's would have Siemens's (although Hart's does accept ambiguity in foreign words). I am surprised that a newspaper style guide doesn't follow Hart's on matters of this nature. Can you let me know who the author of your style guide is, and whether it is available to the public? I have a scholarly interest in the history of the use of English in formal settings, in particular the language of the press.

Interestingly, Hart's does make a point similar to the style guide you talk of - it says that euphony is the over-riding concern where ambiguity arises. I am not of the opinion that Siemens is an ambiguous case but, as I've already said, there is an argument that foreign words are by their nature ambiguous.

I've also chatted about it with my partner (a grammarian and lecturer in linguistics) and she accepts greater ambiguity than I do - but she's less of a traditionalist than me! After all, part of her job is teaching the beauty of language change and variation.

God, I love this kind of stuff!

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Sussex's

And Kev - whilst we're at it - it's too much, not to much