Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

possessive form of "actress"

English answer:

actress'

Added to glossary by Fuad Yahya
Mar 5, 2004 17:02
20 yrs ago
3 viewers *
English term

genitive of actress

English Art/Literary Linguistics
The dress of the actress.

The actress' dress? How many s's? Where to put the apostrophe?
Change log

Jan 9, 2006 07:21: Fuad Yahya changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"

Discussion

Aug 23, 2007:
what is the plural possessive of student
Aug 23, 2007:
what is the plural possessive of student

Responses

+3
7 mins
Selected

the actress' role

For nouns ending in s (whether singular or plural), the possessive form requires only an apostrophe:

Unisys' annual report

Phyliss' comments

your boss' agenda

the actress' role
-----------------


NOTE: if a singular noun ending in s is followed by a word beginning with s, use only the apostrophe, not 's. Charles' shirt


--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 mins (2004-03-05 17:13:26 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

There is obviously more than one point of view on the topic :-)

Many writers consider it bad form to use apostrophe -s possessives with pieces of furniture and buildings or inanimate objects in general. Instead of \"the desk\'s edge\" (according to many authorities), we should write \"the edge of the desk\" and instead of \"the hotel\'s windows\" we should write \"the windows of the hotel.\" In fact, we would probably avoid the possessive altogether and use the noun as an attributive: \"the hotel windows.\" This rule (if, in fact, it is one) is no longer universally endorsed. We would not say \"the radio of that car\" instead of \"that car\'s radio\" (or the \"car radio\") and we would not write \"the desire of my heart\" instead of \"my heart\'s desire.\" Writing \"the edge of the ski\" would probably be an improvement over \"the ski\'s edge,\" however.

For expressions of time and measurement, the possessive is shown with an apostrophe -s: \"one dollar\'s worth,\" \"two dollars\' worth,\" \"a hard day\'s night,\" \"two years\' experience,\" \"an evening\'s entertainment.\"
Peer comment(s):

agree James Calder : Quite right Rita. You don't need to put an 's' after the apostrophe.
54 mins
thanks James :-)
agree Charlie Bavington : this is certainly what I was always taught. So mark this down as being Charles' opinion :-)
5 hrs
dependable CB :-)
agree Scott Horne (X) : Both are possible, but _actress's_ is better
4 days
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you"
+16
1 min

actress's

For the plural it would be actresses'
Peer comment(s):

agree Vicky Papaprodromou
0 min
agree IanW (X)
1 min
agree Hacene
1 min
agree TransMark
1 min
agree David Knowles
2 mins
agree pike
3 mins
agree Madeleine MacRae Klintebo
5 mins
agree Norbert Hermann
15 mins
agree Attila Piróth
18 mins
agree ben baudoin
1 hr
agree Armorel Young
2 hrs
agree karina koguta
3 hrs
agree Jörgen Slet
4 hrs
agree senin
19 hrs
agree Rajan Chopra
20 hrs
agree Scott Horne (X)
4 days
Something went wrong...
+1
2 mins

actress's dress

Good question! I must admit that I am not 100% sure, but I would say "actress's dress".
Peer comment(s):

agree Scott Horne (X)
4 days
Something went wrong...
+1
4 mins

actress's dress

The following is from William Strunk, Jr. (1869–1946). The Elements of Style. 1918.

http://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk.html#1

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


This is the usage of the United States Government Printing Office and of the Oxford University Press.

Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names in -es and -is, the possessive Jesus', and such forms as for conscience' sake, for righteousness' sake. But such forms as Achilles' heel, Moses' laws, Isis' temple are commonly replaced by

the heel of Achilles
the laws of Moses
the temple of Isis


The pronominal possessives hers, its, theirs, yours, and oneself have no apostrophe.
Peer comment(s):

agree Scott Horne (X)
4 days
Something went wrong...
-1
1 hr

actor's

Easy fix: In the US today, writers prefer to use the gender-neutral(ized) "actor" in place of the old-fashioned and sexist-sounding "actress". Most of these "-ess" forms are being dropped nowadays.

If this doesn't work in your context, I agree with most of the other answerers that it should be "actress's".
Peer comment(s):

disagree Scott Horne (X) : irrelevant
4 days
Excuse me? How is it irrelevant? Thanks so much for your input, which I in turn find irrelevant.
Something went wrong...
-1
3 hrs

actress' dress

Kate L. Turabian says in her book "A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertation" (every college student's reference book) that:
{For some common nouns euphony dictates adding only an apostrophe. For righteousness' sake}.
Actress thereby being a common noun, "actress' dress" should be the choice.
Peer comment(s):

disagree Scott Horne (X) : Irrelevant: _for righteousness' sake_ is a different case
4 days
Yes it is relavant. Issue here is common noun, apostrophee"s" and possessive. Both actress and righteousness are common nouns. In case of doubt, you should send letter of inquiry to that effect to Ms. Turabian.
Something went wrong...
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search