James’s or James’?

Both James’s and James’ are singular possessive forms for the name  James. However James’s is the commonly used form and is  endorsed by both the AP stylebook and the Chicago  manual of style of e.g. James’ bike is blue.  James’ is also correct and it’s the format that is endorsed by the AP stylebook, e.g. James’ cat is sleeping on his bed.

The chart below shows the different forms of the name James and the examples

FormExample
SingularJames
PluralJameses
Singular Possessive James’s
Single possessive alternativeJames’
Plural PossessiveJameses’

The following are some of the simple examples of how you wil  apply the forms in each context.

Singular: James went to the park alone. 

Plural: The Jameses are going to the store. (Note: The plural of James can be formed by adding ‘es.’)

Singular Possessive: James’s car is parked in the driveway.

Single possessive alternative:James’ favorite song is playing on the radio.

Plural Possessive: The Jameses‘ musical preferences are diverse.

As you can see, you can use any of the two singular possessive forms  depending on the style you choose to follow. The most important thing to do is ensure that  you are consistent with whatever style you follow.

Sometimes when the next word is starting with ‘s’, some people may omit the ‘s’ and only remain with the apostrophe at the end. For example when you have a sentence like this; “James’s son is one of the most talented youngest footballers.” You may have to omit the s and remain with  James’ only.

You don’t want to make a mistake by using a wrong possessive form. So, See more examples of using the possessives in the rest of this post t help you understand this even better.

James’s

You will use James’s when you  are talking about something that belongs to  one person named James

This is the most common singular plural and is endorsed by many styling books including the AP stylebook and the Chicago manual of styles. 

This  singular possessive is formed by adding an apostrophe and ‘s’ at the end of the name.

Here are some of the examples of sentences using Jamess’s

  • James’s car is parked outside.
  • I admire James’s dedication to his work.
  • The key to success is often in James’s approach.
  • I appreciate James’s help with my homework.

James’

This is another correct singular possessive for the name James.  James’ refers  to something that belongs to one person named James. It’s not as common as James’s but it is grammatically correct. This style is endorsed by the AP stylebook.

When you choose to go with this style just make sure that you go with it all the way, maintaining consistency.

This form is simply formed by using an apostrophe at the end of “James”. It is also commonly used by some people when the next word is starting with ‘S’.

Let’s look at some of the examples of sentences using  James’ below;

  • “The project was a collaboration between Sarah and James’ teams.”
  • “The keys to James‘ office are on the desk.”
  • James’ dog is quite playful and energetic.”
  • “I’ll be attending James’ birthday party next week.”
  • “The painting in the living room is James’ creation.”

Jameses

This is the standard plural for the name James. Jameses It’s used when referring to more than one person named James. Here are a few examples;

  • “The Jameses are known for their distinct contributions to the field of medicine.”
  • “We invited both Jameses to the conference to share their unique perspectives.”
  • “At the family reunion, the Jameses reminisced about their childhood adventure”

Jameses’

Now when you are talking about something that belongs to a group of individuals named ‘James’ then you’re going to use Jameses’ This is the plural possessive for the name James and it must be noted that it is formed by adding ‘es’ and apostrophe at the end of the name.

Lets look at more examples using this plural possessive form

  • “The Jameses’ houses are side by side on Maple Street.”
  • “I received invitations from both Jameses‘ families for Thanksgiving dinner.”
  • “The Jameses’ opinions on the matter differ significantly.”
  • “We are hosting a party for the Jameses’ joint birthdays.”
  • “The Jameses’ dogs play together in the neighborhood park.”

Leave a Comment