Chapter 4 Plurals & Possessives

1. Names

Form plurals of family names that end in “s” by adding “es.”

Right	The Jameses live in Hyde Park.
Right	The James family lives in Hyde Park.

Form plurals and possessives of proper names that end with “s,” “x” and “z” like this:

Right	Burns’ poems
Right	Marx’s theories
Right	Seitz's holdings

Plural possessives combine the above rules:

Right	the Jones family’s reputation
Right	The Joneses’ reputation

2. Plurals

Form plurals of the following by adding “s” alone:

Right	dos and don’ts
Right	CDs and ATMs
Right	M.A.s and Ph.D.s
Right	The three Rs
Right	the early 1940s
Right	several YMCAs
Right	CODs and IOUs
Right	in twos and threes

Form plurals of the following by adding ’s:

Right	S’s, A’s and I’s
Right	x’s and o’s
Right	SOS’s

3. Articles

Except in cases that require emphasis or specificity, articles (a, the, an) are unnecessary and, for brevity's sake, can be omitted by changing singular nouns to plural ones. For more hints about articles and content reduction techniques, see "Writing Techniques."

Right	The security cameras and the officers viewed the robbery of both the safes and the open registers.
Better	Security cameras and officers viewed the robbery of both safes and open registers.
Right	A safe and a security force are a good way to prevent a bank robbery.
Better	Safes and security forces are good ways to prevent bank robberies.