Q. When referring to “the corps” as in the Army Corps of Engineers or the Peace Corps, what is the proper possessive form? For example, is it “the corps’ decision” or “the corps’s decision?”
A. Use corps’. Please see CMOS 7.19 [16th ed.] for the possessive of nouns that are plural in form, singular in meaning.
—Editors’ update in response to a reader’s query:
Q. With regard to this Q&A, I believe you have misanalyzed the meaning and etymology of the singular word corps.
You give a solution based on CMOS 7.19, but actually CMOS 7.16 applies to singular words ending in silent s (e.g., corps, Illinois, Jacques, rendezvous, chamois). CMOS 7.19 refers to words that are plural in form but singular in meaning. However, words like corps or chamois are not plural in form. The word corps, for example, is singular in both form and meaning. It comes from the French le corps. The s on the end is from the original Latin spelling corpus, which is also singular. The s does not signify plural and never has. (The Latin plural is corpora.) We use the invariable plural form that French does in spelling, but in English the singular is pronounced /kor/ and the plural, which happens to be spelled the same, is pronounced /korz/. Thus, by CMOS 7.16, the possessive forms should arguably be “the corps’s plan” (singular) and “the many corps’ plans” (plural).
A. Sigh—you are right. We slipped up with this one. Thank you so much for letting us know! We depend on our readers to keep us on our toes.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. How would this be punctuated correctly? “The AZ Group of Companies’, comprising ABC Machine Company, DEF Machine Company, and GHI Corporation, mission is to provide . . .” or “The AZ Group of Companies,’ comprising ABC Machine Company, DEF Machine Company, and GHI Corporation, mission is to provide . . .”? I’m writing a brochure and can’t find it anywhere online.
A. Forgive the bluntness, but you will never find this online, because no one would ever write it either way. Please rewrite it—there are many better ways. Here are two suggestions:
The mission of the AZ Group of Companies, comprising ABC etc., is to provide . . .
The mission of the AZ Group of Companies (ABC etc.) is to provide . . .
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. How would you punctuate factor(s) to show both singular and plural possessive? The sentence reads “This results in the factor(s) outcome(s) being misread.”
A. The factor(’s/s’) outcome(s)? The factor’s/factors’ outcome/outcomes? The factor(s)’(s) outcome(s)? The possibilities are all so fun it’s hard to choose just one! Seriously, just rewrite the sentence. This isn’t copping out—your sentence is hopeless. Often it’s not even necessary to indicate the singular/plural alternatives. “This results in misreading factor outcomes” applies to one or more factors.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. CMOS 7.17 cites “Kansas’s legislature” as an example, whereas 7.20 has “the United States’ role” as another. Am I correct to use “Paris’s sights,” “Philippines’ sights,” and “Seychelles’ sights” under 7.20? Could I also conclude that 7.17 is used mainly for states (like Kansas and Texas) in a country (like the US) and 7.20 strictly for countries?
A. The distinction is not between states and countries, but between names with a singular form (Paris, Kansas, Cyprus, Barbados) and nouns that take a plural form although they are singular in meaning (United States, Seychelles, Chicago Heights, Philippines). The singular forms make the possessive with the addition of an apostrophe and an s (Paris’s, Kansas’s, Cyprus’s, Barbados’s); for nouns with a plural form, add only the apostrophe for the possessive (United States’, Seychelles’, Philippines’).
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. I’m wondering how you would handle a possessive of a city-and-state combination: While we were able to recast the sentence, suppose we need to express “the streets of Anytown, New York” as compactly as possible. “Anytown, New York’s, streets” puts the possessive squarely on “New York” because of the necessary comma—and you couldn’t do the logical “Anytown, New York,’s streets” as if the commas were parentheses! Or do we just bite the bullet and have an even longer sentence?
Q. Hello. I can’t find a clear answer to the question of how to form the possessive of an acronym, especially a plural one. For example, I see the use of an apostrophe without a following s used often (CBS’ programming). I think an s is appropriate in any case, including when the acronym itself is plural. Is this correct?
A. Chicago style treats acronyms like other words, adding an apostrophe and an s: CBS’s audience. Although a plural possessive acronym can be awkward, the apostrophe alone serves: the PDFs’ suitability. Please see CMOS 7.17.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Hello, I am copyediting an article and wish to know what the plural form of “master’s degree” is. I believe it should be “masters’ degrees,” as this would be most logical, but I would appreciate your input. All of the online forums I follow have different opinions regarding this matter, and no dictionaries provide a plural form, so I would like to clear up the matter with you. Thank you very much.
A. The “master’s” part of the phrase stays singular: master’s degrees.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. Would one say, “He was a close friend of Gabriel’s” or “He was a close friend of Gabriel”? Is there a rule governing this?
A. There is! CMOS 5.49 calls your first construction a double possessive. Both forms are correct, but one or the other usually sounds more natural. “A friend of Gabriel’s” is the more common idiom.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. My colleagues and I are debating a grammar issue. We read the grammar rules, but we are still unclear. Here is the sentence: “Your employees are the business’s most valuable assets.” Business is singular but it could be interpreted as plural. Which of the following is correct?
Your employees are the business’ most valuable assets.
or
Your employees are the business’s most valuable assets.
A. “The business’s most valuable assets” is correct because business is singular. (Businesses is the plural of business.) Actually, your other sentence is also technically correct (“Your employees are the business’ most valuable assets”), because in a practice that Chicago does not recommend, singular words that end in s are sometimes made possessive by adding only an apostrophe, without another s: James’ hat. (Please see CMOS 7.22.) CMOS recommends adding the s: your business’s assets, James’s hat.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]
Q. If a phrase is possessive in the first instance it is used, is the abbreviation possessive as well? For example, should it be “Student Psychological Help Line’s (SPHL) 24/7 assistance center” or “Student Psychological Help Line’s (SPHL’s) 24/7 assistance center”? I know that you answered this question already. However, your answer was to avoid that type of phrase. In my case, I work for a company in which the possessive phrase, which gets abbreviated, is part of a larger phrase. (The above example is real.) Hence, I need to know what to do if you absolutely have to use this sort of wording.
A. If you can’t avoid it, you get to choose. You have the power! Use it well.
[This answer relies on the 17th edition of CMOS (2017) unless otherwise noted.]