A Basic Grammar question

Question

Hello everybody. I am learning basic grammar from a book. and when I reached Apostrophes section. That book made confused me.
It said, anything ending with S will have S' and not ending with S will have 'S.
It had 2 examples.

1) Mel Brooks' original name was Melvin.
2) Keep your boss's boss off your boss's back.

these both examples are contradicting the writer's own rule.

Please can any one help me in explaining the exact rule and detailed rule with examples if possible.

Thanks
Andy

Fivejedjon · Accepted Answer

That question was dealt with here:

Basic noun question?

Grammarfreak · Answer

andy05031) Mel Brooks' original name was Melvin.

2) Keep your boss's boss off your boss's back.

Andy,
Think of this as a general rule. Apostrophe always suggests possessive context. Mel Brooks' original name was Melvin.- is correct because the "s" in Brooks is part of a name. So only an apostrophe placed after the "s" is fine and no apostrophe "s" is needed. In the example of the "boss", the apostrophe "s" is needed because as a rule, a noun always needs a possessive apostrophe "s", regardless if it ends with a "s" or any consonant.

A Basic Grammar question

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Basic noun question?