Frances’s or Frances’?
Frances’ is the singular possessive form and you should use it when you are following the AP Stylebook e.g, “Frances’ garden is thriving with colorful blooms.” Furthermore, Frances’s is the singular possessive form endorsed by the Chicago Manual of Style e.g., “Frances’s cat enjoys napping in the sunlit corner of the room.”
You can see from the following chart that Frances has two singular possessive forms.You make one form by adding an apostrophe at the end of Frances. For the second form, you need to add an apostrophe and an “s.”
| Form | Example |
| Singular | Frances |
| Plural | Franceses |
| Singular Possessive | Frances’s or Frances’ |
| Plural Possessive | Franceses’ |
Here are the examples of each of the above forms in context.
Singular: “Frances is attending the conference tomorrow.”
Plural:”The Franceses in the office are collaborating on a new project.”
Singular Possessive: “Frances’s laptop is in the conference room.”
Singular possessive:Frances’ bike is parked by the front door.
Plural Possessive: “The Franceses’ presentations were well-received by the audience.”
You should use Frances’ if you are following the AP stylebook but if you are following the Chicago manual of style then you should go with Frances’s.
Furthermore,when you are referring to more than one person named Frances then you should use the plural Franceses. Let’s look at the following examples;
- The Franceses brought delicious homemade dishes to the potluck.
When you are referring to something that belongs to multiple individuals named Frances then use the possessive plural Franceses’.
You have read the basics of the different forms of Frances. To ensure that you understand all the little details and how to use and apply each of the forms, read the rest of this article where we explain everything in detail.
Frances’s
The term Frances’s is the stand singular possessive for the word Frances. You use it when you are referring to something that belongs to a person named Frances.
Here are a few examples;
- I borrowed Frances’s umbrella because it was raining outside.
- The keys to the car are in Frances‘s purse
This is the more common form of the two singular possessives according to Google Ngram. Its also one that is specified by the Chicago manual of styles.
In some literature, you may have noticed the ‘s’ being omitted from Frances’s, that is totally accepted by both styling guides if the next word is starting with an ‘s’ which can be hard to pronounce..
Frances’
Frances’ is another singular possessive for the word Frances. You can use it when you are talking about something that Frances owns.
- We enjoyed dinner at Frances’ favorite restaurant.
- I appreciate Frances’ support and encouragement
This form is stipulated by the AP stylebook.
