Editor's Corner

Today’s writing tip is about compound possessive subjects.

What is a compound subject? It is a subject that consists of two or more simple subjects that have the same predicate. In other words, it is several nouns that share the same verb. By adding possession to the mix (that sometimes tricky apostrophe s), people start to panic, and often end up with subjects and verb tenses that disagree. Let’s have a look at some examples and you’ll see what I mean.

When the subject (a single noun) owns something, the apostrophe s is placed after the noun:

• Lucrezia’s necklace
• Buster’s pork chop

When the subject is compound (two or more nouns) and both own the same thing, the apostrophe s is placed after the last noun:

• Lucrezia and Amalie’s necklace (two owners, one necklace)
• Buster and Bella’s pork chop (two dogs, one pork chop = trouble)
• Lacey, Alicia, and Maggie’s hobby shop (three owners, one shop)
• The stein was Tony and Edith’s. (one stein, two owners)

If each part of the compound subject owns different things, then the apostrophe s must be added to each:

• Lucrezia’s and Amalie’s necklaces (two owners, two necklaces)
• Buster’s and Bella’s pork chops (two dogs, two pork chops = peace)
• Lacey’s, Alicia’s, and Maggie’s hobby shops (three owners, three shops)
• The steins were Tony’s and Edith’s. (two steins, two owners)

When personal pronouns are used (I, you, he, she, we,or they) the situation is a bit different; the apostrophe s goes on the noun only, and the noun should come first.

• Lucrezia’s and her necklace (noun first, pronoun second)
• Buster’s and my pork chop (noun first, pronoun second)
• Lacey’s, Alicia’s, and her hobby shops (nouns first, pronoun second)
• The stein is Tony’s and hers. (noun first, pronoun second)

For a short quiz and more information, see English Grammar Revolution.

Kara Church
Senior Technical Editor
619-542-6773 | Ext: 766773
www.symitar.com

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