Iris' Iris's ..

[tulipsunday]

Which is correct or both?

Iris' hat

Iris's hat

Thanks. Did google it but read different answers so still not completely sure.

Here’s the obituary of Shirley Williams.

There are two possessives in it that I can see. Both are Williams’s.

It’s clearly not unusual.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/apr/12/lady-williams-of-crosby-obituary

The first one

You still say it the same!

@Rummly

One link isn't going to convince me that it doesn't sound unusual or that most people wouldn't say it sounds odd to say out loud.

We won't know unless someone did a large scale poll of people's opinions on it. I'm just going on a hunch that most people would say "williamses" sounds very clunky.

OK. Here’s JPR Williams’s obituary.

Two possessives. Both Williams’s.

I appreciate you’ll stick to your guns. But I think I’ve at least proved that Williams’s is not unusual.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/jan/09/jpr-williams-obituary

@Rummly

I appreciate that you're sticking to your guns too 😂 but two obituaries you've dug up doesn't equate to all native English speakers, or at the very least the vast majority of them. I'm going to ask around people I know out of interest in lieu of a poll.

It stands to reason though that if you're pronouncing Williams' as Williamses, perhaps the Williams's in those obituaries should still be pronounced Williams out loud

🤔

Pronouncing it as Williamses is bonkerses.

“Asking around” is hardly better evidence than what’s consistently written in a national ‘broadsheet’ newspaper…

I would read (i.e. pronounce in my head) John Williams’ as John Williams. I would read John Williams’s as John Williamses (phonetically speaking).

But since Williams’s is perfectly normal, as the obits show, I don’t see what the issue is.

As someone upthread also pointed out, it’s Bridget Jones’s Diary, as the title in print and on film. Is that unusual and bonkers too?

“Asking around” is hardly better evidence than what’s consistently written in a national ‘broadsheet’ newspaper…

Depends how many people you ask and what you think of the Guardian. If you're going to argue your side with a couple of obituaries, I might as well ask various people what they think.