Goddesses? Goddess'?

[dr_mabeuse]

I'm in the middle of the story involving a pagan goddess.

What's the possessive form? Is it really goddess'? I know that if I were talking about Jones, I would talk about Jones' car. And if I were talking about the Jones family, it would be the Joneses' car (I think), but goddess' temple just doesn't look righht to me. Is the goddess's temple a sin?

---dr.M.

 

[HawaiiBill]

What's the possessive form? Is it really goddess'? I know that if I were talking about Jones, I would talk about Jones' car. And if I were talking about the Jones family, it would be the Joneses' car (I think), but goddess' temple just doesn't look righht to me. Is the goddess's temple a sin?
---dr.M.

Temples don't belong to the object of their reverence. Hence, "Church of God" rather than "God's Church." That's the usual view. Therefore suggest "Temple of the Goddess." Or, did you mean "Temple of the Goddesses?"

Noted this: "The Grammar Goddess's Official Pet..." as used in http://www.transfan-asylum.org/writing/grammar.htm devoted -- if you will pardon the expression -- to such questions.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Oh, I don't care: Goddess's temple, Goddess' followers, goddess's little tin cup. Just give me the singular possessive form.

All that happened at that site was she talked about diagramming sentences. Didn't have a "mail me" link.

---dr.M.

 

[minsue]

Oh, I don't care: Goddess's temple, Goddess' followers, goddess's little tin cup. Just give me the singular possessive form.

All that happened at that site was she talked about diagramming sentences. Didn't have a "mail me" link.

---dr.M.

However, if the phrase ""The Grammar Goddess's Official Pet..." is used on the site, it's a safe bet that the Grammar Goddess (whoever that is ) agrees that the singular possessive should be goddess's.

 

[upfront]

I'm in the middle of the story involving a pagan goddess.

What's the possessive form? Is it really goddess'? I know that if I were talking about Jones, I would talk about Jones' car. And if I were talking about the Jones family, it would be the Joneses' car (I think), but goddess' temple just doesn't look righht to me. Is the goddess's temple a sin?

---dr.M.

For what it's worth:

I would write "Jones's car" (or indeed "Brahms's Symphony") because I would pronounce the second "s"; but I would write, for example, "Barthes' Elements of Semiology", because I would not pronounce the second "s".

There are grey areas, of course, but I don't think goddess is one of them: "Goddess' temple" looks wrong, feels wrong and sounds wrong (to me anyway).

 

[Omni]

No pro here on this, don't quote, half-assed opinion anyway. ~laughing.

I have too many strange character names like this, last one was Incubus. I get so tired, trying to figure it out (lots of different opinions I tell you!)

I finally decided on "my" hard rule, until some comes to shoot me for the offense. Goddess's or Incubus's and to hell with them!


Omni

 

[cantdog]

Goddess's

Goddess's temple - one goddess

Goddesses' temple - plural goddesses

Honest.

And it depends how many Joneses.

One Jones - Jones's car

Two of 'em - the Joneses' car


Here live the Joneses, in the Joneses' house.

Scots clans may have a personage called The McKenna, and then you might have the McKenna's house, but with ordinary mortals, once you got a 'the' in there, you mean more than one and you need a plural. The Matthewses, The Joneses, the Hugheses. No different from the Oranges and the Browns.