Quoth Steven D'Aprano <st...@remove-this-cybersource.com.au>: >The second exception is if the word ends with an S. In British English, >you put the apostrophe after the S: > >Thomas' approach is wholly practical. > >In American English, they often (but not always) add an extra S: > >Thomas's approach is wholly practical. > >which in my opinion is logical but ugly and should be avoided.
I disagree. For indicating the possessive of the plural ("the books' spines were damaged), putting the apostrophe after makes perfect sense. However, when a word like "Thomas" is made possessive in American English, it is pronounced differently (eg: "Thomases"). In that case, spelling it Thomas's makes it read more like it sounds. So you may find it ugly, but I find it reads better to my ear :) --RDM -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list