singular noun ending in S + possessive ‘ (-s’)

From Google/Oxford, the suffix:

s’

denotes possession in plural nouns and sometimes in singular nouns having a final s.
For example:  “the girls’ dormitories”
Girls is plural.

Usually, the possessive singular noun takes ‘s regardless if it ends in s or not.  (Many English users get this wrong.)

You are the boss‘s son. (A2 grammar)

listen

Boss is singular.  However, Species can be singular or plural.  In the following example, species is singular ‘this species‘:

 

Now, we actually don’t know this species closest relative yet. (C2 grammar)

listen


C2 point 66 in DETERMINERS/possessives is defined as:

apostrophe after singular nouns ending in s, to indicate possession.

The English Grammar Profile only lists one example:

  • series’

and mentions it is a very low-frequency feature.  This grammar is more centered on the vocabulary here because ‘series’ is considered a ‘zero plural’.  It is singular or plural with no s or es for plural forms. It also refers to a group of things.  The only other similar word I can think of is ‘species


*Searching for this grammar is incredibly hard because it locates a lot of errors in the English of ‘expert’ users or in the tagging!

A search in iWeb for:

*s_NN1 _GE _N

1 BUSINESS ‘S NEEDS 464


2 GOODNESS ‘ SAKE 454

(Nouns that end in an s sound take only an apostrophe when they are followed by sake.)

In the Cambridge online dictionary:

for goodness’ sake
(also for Pete’s/heaven’s/pity’s sake)

I am surprised or annoyed by this:
For goodness’ sake, don’t tell anyone else about this!


 

3 BUSINESS ‘ NEEDS 450

4 BUSINESS ‘S STOCK 438

5 BUSINESS ‘ SUCCESS 379

  Boston Business Journal
Tips to creating a successful viral marketing campaign to …
The most important thing for a business’ success is loyalty, not how viral content becomes.
11 Mar 2020
*In the above example business’ should be business’s

6 BUSINESS ‘S SUCCESS 365
7 BUSINESS ‘S REVENUE 330

8 RIGHTEOUSNESS ‘ SAKE 305
9 BUSINESS ‘S NAME 274
10 BUSINESS ‘S WEBSITE 270
11 BOSS ‘S OFFICE 241
12 BUSINESS ‘ 239
13 BUSINESS ‘ WEBSITE 209
14 BUSINESS ‘S REPUTATION 207
15 BOSS ‘S BOSS 204
16 BUSINESS ‘ NAME 191
17 WITNESS ‘S TESTIMONY 181
18 CONGRESS ‘ POWER 177
19 BUSINESS ‘ REPUTATION 176
20 CONGRESS ‘S POWER 173
21 NEWS ‘ 172
22 BUSINESS ‘S FINANCES 166
23 BUSINESS ‘S ABILITY 165
24 BOSS ‘S DAY 163
25 BUSINESS ‘S GROWTH 155
26 CRISIS ‘ 155
27 WITNESS ‘ TESTIMONY 155
28 BUSINESS ‘ GROWTH 152
29 BOSS ‘S DAUGHTER 149
30 BUSINESS ‘S CASH 144
31 BUSINESS ‘ ABILITY 140
32 NEWS ‘ REQUEST 136
33 OCTOPUS ‘S GARDEN 132
34 BUSINESS ‘ OPERATIONS 126
35 BUSINESS ‘S ASSETS 125
36 BUSINESS ‘S MARKETING 125
37 BOSS ‘ OFFICE 124
38 BUSINESS ‘S OPERATIONS 121
39 BOSS ‘S WIFE 120
40 BUSINESS ‘S RESPONSE 120
41 BUSINESS ‘ MARKETING 119
42 CONGRESS ‘ INTENT 117
43 BUSINESS ‘S CREDIT 116
44 NEWS ‘ SEAN 116
45 BUSINESS ‘ FINANCES 113
46 BUSINESS ‘ PERFORMANCE 108
47 PROCESS ‘ 108
48 BUSINESS ‘S PERFORMANCE 105
49 PROCESS ‘S LIFECYCLE 105
50 BUSINESS ‘S DATA 100
51 BUSINESS ‘ CASH 96
52 BUSINESS ‘S GOALS 96
53 BOSS ‘S SON 95
54 BUSINESS ‘S PRODUCTS 94
55 BUSINESS ‘S ENERGY 93
56 BUSINESS ‘S FUTURE 87
57 NEWS ‘ BILL 87
58 NEWS ‘ LIST 87
59 SUCCESS ‘ 87
60 CONGRESS ‘S INTENT 85
61 LENS ‘ APERTURE 85
62 BUSINESS ‘S BRAND 84
63 COMPLETENESS ‘ SAKE 84
64 BUSINESS ‘S PROFITS 82
65 BUSINESS ‘S EXPOSURE 78
66 CLASS ‘S CONSTRUCTOR 78
67 BUSINESS ‘ BRAND 77
68 BUSINESS ‘S VALUE 77
69 PROCESS ‘S ADDRESS 77
70 BUSINESS ‘S INCOME 76
71 PROGRESS ‘ 76
72 WITNESS ‘S EVIDENCE 76
73 ADDRESS ‘ FIELD 75
74 ASS ‘S COLT 72
75 BUSINESS ‘ DATA 72
76 BUSINESS ‘ PRODUCTS 72
77 BUSINESS ‘S SALES 72
78 STATUS ‘ COLUMN 71
79 CLASS ‘ 70
80 LOSS ‘ 70
81 CONGRESS ‘ APPROVAL 69
82 NEWS ‘ CHRIS 69
83 BOSS ‘ BOSS 68
84 NEWS ‘ SECTION 68
85 BUSINESS ‘ CREDIT 67
86 NEWS ‘ GEORGE 66
87 BOSS ‘S JOB 65
88 NEWS ‘ DAVID 65
89 BUSINESS ‘S BANK 64
90 LENS ‘ FOCUS 64
91 NEWS ‘ MEGYN 64
92 POLITICS ‘ 64
93 BUSINESS ‘ FUTURE 63
94 BUSINESS ‘ GOALS 63
95 BUSINESS ‘S LOGO 63
96 CONGRESS ‘ DECISION 63
97 BUSINESS ‘ VALUE 62
98 CONGRESS ‘ AUTHORITY 62
99 CONGRESS ‘ FAILURE 62
100 BUSINESS ‘S CUSTOMER 61

*s_NN1 _GE

1 BUSINESS ‘ 17387

2 BUSINESS ‘S 15739
3 NEWS ‘ 10719
4 CLASS ‘ 5997
5 PRESS ‘ 5811
6 BOSS ‘S 4868
7 CONGRESS ‘ 3983
8 BOSS ‘ 3884
9 PROCESS ‘ 3040
10 CLASS ‘S 2835
11 CONGRESS ‘S 2637
12 STATUS ‘ 2498
13 PLUS ‘ 2371
14 LENS ‘ 2295
15 SUCCESS ‘ 2089
16 PRINCESS ‘ 2072
17 PROGRESS ‘ 1997
18 CAMPUS ‘ 1973
19 ADDRESS ‘ 1886
20 CRISIS ‘ 1869
21 ACTRESS ‘ 1816
22 ACCESS ‘ 1806
23 IRS ‘S 1725
24 EXPRESS ‘ 1650
25 CROSS ‘ 1645
26 WITNESS ‘ 1489
27 PRINCESS ‘S 1483
28 PASS ‘ 1384
29 POLITICS ‘ 1333
30 WITNESS ‘S 1327
31 FOCUS ‘ 1309
32 PRESS ‘S 1224
33 BUS ‘ 1191
34 KISS ‘ 1174
35 GAS ‘ 1170
36 LOSS ‘ 1158
37 PROCESS ‘S 1148
38 ATHLETICS ‘ 1136
39 MISS ‘ 1133
40 CAMPUS ‘S 1094
41 ANALYSIS ‘ 1070
42 GENIUS ‘ 1058
43 DARKNESS ‘ 975
44 VIRUS ‘ 942
45 HAPPINESS ‘ 886
46 DRESS ‘ 865
47 GLASS ‘ 851
48 ACTRESS ‘S 788
49 GODDESS ‘ 784
50 CHAOS ‘ 779
51 NEWS ‘S 771
52 ELECTRONICS ‘ 736
53 BONUS ‘ 727
54 IRS ‘ 716
55 STRESS ‘ 713
56 MADNESS ‘ 705
57 WIRELESS ‘ 703
58 GOODNESS ‘ 693 (most of these are tagging errors)
59 MASS ‘ 688
60 ECONOMICS ‘ 682
61 BIAS ‘ 677 (most of these are tagging errors)
62 CONSCIOUSNESS ‘ 670
63 MISTRESS ‘ 659
64 GRASS ‘ 653
65 CHORUS ‘ 618
66 DUCHESS ‘S 609
67 OASIS ‘ 586
68 ILLNESS ‘ 584
69 CIRCUS ‘ 572
70 LENS ‘S 566
71 BASS ‘ 563
72 FITNESS ‘ 562
73 VIRUS ‘S 556
74 CANVAS ‘ 555
75 LOTUS ‘ 553
76 FETUS ‘ 536
77 ATLAS ‘ 527
78 AXIS ‘ 513
79 EXPRESS ‘S 509
80 ALIAS ‘ 505
81 MS ‘S 499
82 MISTRESS ‘S 498
83 BASIS ‘ 493
84 AWARENESS ‘ 487
85 ASS ‘ 484
86 MS ‘ 479
87 DUCHESS ‘ 476
88 RIGHTEOUSNESS ‘ 465
89 MESS ‘ 457
90 JUS ‘ 445
91 FETUS ‘S 442
92 TENNIS ‘ 439
93 AIRBUS ‘ 419
94 GODDESS ‘S 413
95 COMPASS ‘ 410
96 BUS ‘S 401
97 PHYSICS ‘ 401
98 PLUS ‘S 383
99 CANNABIS ‘ 378
100 EMPRESS ‘S 375

C2 vocabulary: bias, goodness

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