On Sep 4, 2009, at 9:52 AM, shag carpet bomb wrote:
> srsly? back when I was publishing on habermas, i did a massive inquiry
> as to which was the ultimately correct approach: habermas' or
> habermas's. it bugged me that i could never find a definitive answer.
FWIW, this is the very first rule in _The Elements of Style_ by Strunk & White, everyone's favorite tiny quotable grammar authority:
<begin excerpt>
1. Form the possessive singular of nouns by adding 's.
Follow this rule whatever the final consonant. Thus write,
Charles's friend
Burns's poems
the witch's malice
Exceptions are the possessives of ancient proper names ending in -es and -is, the possessive *Jesus'*, and such forms as *for conscience' sake*, *for righteousness'* sake. But such forms as *Moses' Laws*, *Isis' temple* are commonly replaced by
the laws of Moses
the temple of Isis
<end excerpt>
Michael