Belongs to

[bobhunter@tiscali.co.uk]

It's definately a boat, but is it Bobs boat or Bob's boat, and if he sold it to Dennis whose boat would it be?
What if he sold it to the two Jones brothers?
I am trying to correct someones English and it's obvious mine is not up to it! What are the rules for 's ?

Thanks
Bob

[David L.]

Bob's boat

It's the two Jones brothers' boat

Take 'child' and 'children', and 'two brothers' : ask who owns the object and it goes straight after that.

the child does, so it's the child's thingy
the children do (irregular plural, formed without adding an 's') so it's the children's thingy
the two brothers do (regular plural formed by adding an 's') so it's the brothers' thingy

When the word already ends in an 's' as with 'Dennis' and "Jones", there are two ways:
Dennis's boat
and
Dennis' boat (pronounced Dennis's)
It belongs to the Jones's
or
It belongs to the Jones'
I prefer the full 's. A moderator will give you a 'ruling' on the 'correctiness' of these two.