Miles’s or Miles’?

The term Miles’s is a singular possessive  form for the name Miles and endorsed by the Chicago manual of styles, e.g., “I attended Miles’s graduation ceremony.” Also Miles’ is a correct singular possessive form for Miles which is endorsed by the AP stylebook, e.g., “We visited Miles’ parents during the holidays.”

Here are the different forms for the term Miles and their examples.

Form	Example
Singular	Miles
Plural	Mileses
Singular possessive	Miles’s/ Miles’
Plural possessive	Mileses’

Singular: The letter is addressed to Miles.

Plural: The Mileses hosted a dinner party for their hard working employees

Singular possessive: I borrowed Miles’s camera for the trip.

Singular possessive: The document includes Miles‘ contact information.

Plural possessive: The gallery displayed the Mileses’ artists’ masterpieces

You can see that there are two forms for the singular possessives. Miles’  ending with the apostrophe and Miles’s ending in s. You are free to pick one of these two terms , just be consistent with it in the document you are editing

Furthermore, the   standard pluralization of proper nouns ending in “s” typically involves adding  “es.” So the plural becomes Mileses.

• The Mileses had dinner at their family mansion before they attended the concert.

On the other hand, the plural possessive is formed by adding the apostrophe after the ‘s’. So it becomes Mileses’.

• The projects belong to the Mileses’ team.
• The company acknowledged the Mileses’ significant role in its growth.

In case you are still unsure about how to use the different forms of Miles, let’s go through more examples below to avoid making mistakes in the future.

Miles’s

The term MIles’s is the standard singular possessive form for Miles. It is formed by adding an apostrophe and an ‘s’ at the end of the name Miles.

 This is the more common form in modern English and is endorsed by the Chicago Manual of styles.

• The restaurant reserved a table for our group at Miles’s request.
• The painting in the gallery is an example of Miles’s artistic talent.

Some people may leave out the ‘s’ at the end of the Miles’ when the next word  is starting with an ‘s’. This is acceptable by both the AP Style Guide and the Chicago manual of styles.

• The exhibition featured Miles’ stunning sculptures.
• The project’s success relied on Miles’ strategic planning.

Miles’

Miles is also a singular possessive form for the name Miles. It was the more popular before the 1990s no longer as popular as “Miles’s.” It’s also a correct way of saying something belongs to a person named Miles.  

It is endorsed by the Associated Press Stylebook which stipulates that proper nouns do not carry an additional ‘s’. Miles’ is simply  formed by adding an apostrophe after the ‘s’.

• The professor acknowledged Miles’ strong stance on sustainability.
• In the photo, you can see Miles’ genuine smile at the graduation ceremony.

“Mile’s”  is clever and easier to pronounce  when it comes to reading if the next word starts with an ‘s’