Jameses or James’s or James’ – plural and possessive
Grammar > Jameses or James’s or James’ – plural and possessive forms
Published in March 2023
Edited by: Mary S., a passionate (and kind) high school English teacher
Spelling the possessive and plural forms of this popular given and last name is quite a challenge.
Luckily there is a way to make it easier to remember and as you will soon see, there is more than one way to write these correctly.
Let’s summarise the key topics first:
SINGULAR:
James
PLURAL OF JAMES (more than one):
Jameses
SINGULAR POSSESSIVE (belonging to James):
James’s OR James’. So you could say either. I prefer and suggest James’s – see why below.
PLURAL POSSESSIVE (belonging to more than one):
Jameses’
In this article, we will show you why the writing of this name is so tricky in the different forms and how you can easily learn to do it accurately.
Contents
James is the Singular
James is a common given name and surname in the English language. The name is originally derived from Hebrew. As a first name, it is usually a masculine one.
As with a few other names ending with the letter “s” we have written about recently (e.g. Thomas), James can be a confusing one to spell and write about.
Let’s start with the simple things.
The word James is a proper noun.
What is a proper noun in English grammar?
Proper nouns are words that are used to name something. In our case, a person. We write proper nouns capitalised. For example, David, Gonzales, Smith, Chan etc.
How would you refer to multiple people (plural) with the name James?
Jameses are the Plural
To make the name a plural, just add the letters -ES at the end.
Exactly the same way you would refer to more than one Charles as Charleses or more than Thomas as Thomases.
So, if you are referring to more than one James, you add -ES at the end of the word and this results in Jameses.
Simple enough.
Let’s see some examples of Jameses applied in a sentence:
- “Be careful with the Jameses, hey are very good at chess.”
- “In your Spanish class, there are four Jameses, can you believe it??”
- “You mean both your teachers are Jameses? Oh well, you can memorise their name easily then. “
- “Keep up with the Jameses when you are running in the marathon.”
Spelling the possessive form of James are a bit more difficult.
James’s or James’ are both singular possessive
As an example, imagine a mountain bike that belongs to a boy named James.
How could you refer to the bike?
Would you write “Jame’s bike” or “James’ bike”?
The answer is, you can use BOTH correctly.
The reason for the confusion is that authorities (or guides) on how to spell the word differ in their advice.
So as a result of this discrepancy, both James’ AND James’s spelling are acceptable.
Please note that using Jameses is incorrect when referring to the possessive form. We will get into this below.
For now, let’s look at the there two variants closely now.
James’s
James’s is one (and preferred in my opinion) way to spell the possessive form of James.
It is the preferred way to write it according to most authorities or style guides. For example, the The Chicago Manual of Style from the USA. Style guides, like the Chicago Manual of Style recommend adding an apostrophe and letter s (‘s) to all singular nouns to signify possession, no matter which letter is last in the word.
I prefer this version. The apostrophe s (‘s) rule is uniform across all nouns so it is less confusing to apply it in everyday writing and spelling.
The other reason James’s is preferred is that it is much more popular and used way to spell the word all over the world.
James’s is especially more popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa whereas USA and Canada still sometimes use James’. See why below.
Here are some examples of the word James’s used:
- “This brand new mountain bike is James’s.”
- “James’s goldfish is so beautiful. Can you see it in the aquarium downstairs?”
- “I am reading James’s book. He definitely writes stories in such a unique style.”
- “I just tasted James’s vegetable soup, it is so delicious but be careful, a bit spicy!”
James’
As we alluded to above, you can also spell the possessive form as James.
Why is this?
You remember how we talked about the style guides or books above. One of these guides, The Associated Press Stylebook, from New York, recommends adding an apostrophe (‘) to signify possession for a noun. So adding an apostrophe to the noun in our case would simply result in the spelling of James’.
This spelling, while still accurate, is starting to be used less often with time (even in North America). There is some debate as to whether even The Associated Press will adapt their guidelines at some point as well.
But for now, remember that James’ is not wrong!
See some examples of this proper noun used in a sentence:
- “James’ protein smoothie is delicious, I will ask him to make me one as well.
- “What did you find in Mrs James’ book about growing a herb garden?”
- “I am watching James’ movie, his acting is hilarious.”
So should I use James’s or James’?
Both are ok to use.
For reasons we discussed above, I suggest using James’s as it is more popular, accepted and simpler to apply.
Remember to make it relevant to the task at hand – your school or workplace may have a policy in place.
And also ensure that once you have selected one to spell the word, be consistent. Whether you use James’s or James’, use this way throughout your writing piece.
Alternatively, you can avoid it completely! Just write something that “belongs to James”.
So now we spoke about the singular and plural of the name and how to spell the singular possessive form.
But how do you spell the plural possessive form (or something that belongs to multiple Jameses)?
Jameses’ is the Plural Possessive
Jameses’ is the correct way to write the plural possessive version.
Use this spelling if you are referring to something that belongs to more than one James (ie Jameses).
Just add an apostrophe at the end of the word to make it a plural possessive.
For example, see the following sentences:
“In front of us is the Jameses’ new house.” – this means the house being pointed out is owned by multiple Jameses.
“This is the Jameses’ neighbourhood.”
How to pronounce
See the following video on how to pronounce the possessive form spelled Thomas’s. Youtube has a few different similar videos, check them out to assist with the pronounciation.
To conclude
Let’s conclude the key simple messages with some frequently asked questions we get asked frequently.
What is the singular possessive form of James?
James’s or James’ are both fine to use. I recommend using James’s.
And what is the plural?
It is Jameses.
What is the plural possessive of Jameses?
Jameses’. Just add an apostrophe.
Do you make errors when you write or spell in English?
Or do you have any tips about spelling of plurals and possessives of proper nouns?
Please let us know in the comments below.
Let me know if you would like us to cover something else on Compare it Versus and I will do my best to add it.
References
References and data used in the writing of this grammar and spelling article.
- James as given name and surname, Wikipedia, retrieved in February 2023
- Proper Nouns, Wikipedia, retrieved March 2023
- Cambridge Dictionary, accessed in April 2023, online version
- English high school literature, London lecture notes, 2000 to today
- Youtube Videos, Youtube
- Associated Press Stylebook, The Associated Press, accessed March 2023
- The Chicago Manual Of Style Online, accessed February 2023
- Google search engine for popularity of search terms, search completed in December 2022
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