English

Particle

-’

1. Possessive marker used on plurals that end with -s.
2. Possessive marker sometimes used on singular nouns (names) which end in s, indicating than an object belongs to the noun bearing the marker.

   Jesus' disciples

   Chris' cake recipe

   • 2014 August 29, Minyvonne Burke, “Robin Williams Death: Actor’s Ghost Haunting Home He Died In, Playing Practical Jokes?”, in HNGN Headlines & Global News:

     Robin Williams’ ghost has apparently stuck around and is haunting the California home the actor died in.

Usage notes

• Traditionally, the possessives of classical and Biblical names ending in s, such as Archimedes and Jesus, were written without a final “s”, i.e. the possessives were formed using bare ': Archimedes’ Principle (the principle of Archimedes), Jesus’ disciples (the disciples of Jesus). This may or may not be be distinguished from -'s in pronunciation; see -'s for more.
• In modern English, this practice may be extended to all names ending in s, i.e. both "Chris' recipe" and "Chris's recipe" may be found:
  • 2009, Karen Hitchcock, Little White Slips (ISBN 1466826851):

    Sam, the Lebanese milk bar man, followed Chris's recipe.

  • 2012, Jack Edward Shay, Bygone Binghamton: Remembering People and Places of the Past (ISBN 1467065021):

    That was Chris' recipe.

• ' is to be distinguished from -s': the teachers' faces = the faces of the teachers, plural.

German

Suffix

-'

1. Used to form the genitive forms of names ending in -s, -ß, -x, -z or (foreign) -ce, similar to English -'. For other names, -s is used.

   Hans', Hoeneß', Felix', Ringelnatz', Joyce'‎

   Hans', Hoeneß', Felix's, Ringelnatz's, Joyce's

Synonyms

• (now rare) -ens

Norwegian

Suffix

-'

1. Used to form the genitive of nouns that already end in -s, -x or -z. For other nouns, -s is used.