I'm going to James' house.

[LOLisNOTaPunctuationMark]

Prepared to admit I'm wrong. Really, I'm just seeking clarification.


Apostrophe and an S still apply when assigning an object to a person whose name ends with an S. Yes?

So why do so many people think otherwise? Is it an optional rule?
I'm honestly not one to get too bothered about grammar and the like.. but this is one thing that bothers me.

I've just received a text from my sister - an English teacher - saying, "I'm going to James' house tonight."

That doesn't make sense to me. It should be, "I'm going to James's house tonight."

You wouldn't say "I'm going to Anne house." You would say, "I'm going to Anne's house."

"I'm going to my mum house for Christmas."
NO!
"I'm going to my mum's house for Christmas."

Can anyone clear this up before my overtired head implodes?

[valiumredhead]

Both are fine

[campion]

If the car belongs to one Jones then Jones's car would fit but if it belonged to more than one Jones then Joneses' car it has to be.

es makes the name plural and the apostrophe gives possession.
Words ending in s, sh, ch, x or z need the es treatment.

[FriendlyLadybird]

To quote Burchfield:

Use 's for the possessive case in English names and surnames whenever possible; i.e. in all monosyllables and disyllables and in longer words accented on the penult, as Burns's, Charles's, Counsins's, Dickens's, Hicks's, St James's Square, Thomas's, Zacharias's.It is customary, however, to omit the 's when the last syllable of the name is pronounced iz, as in Bridges', Moses'. Jesus' is an acceptable liturgical archaism.

So there you go.

[Onsera3]

Agree that it's 'James's' unless there's a historical weight to it eg Jesus'

[littlesquid]

I checked this with a University lecturer in English Language, because one of my DC ends in S and I was worried about getting it wrong, she told me it was James'.

[Bradsplit]

I have three ending in s. I always say "Jesus' "