Apostrophe With Possessive Plural And Surname Ending With 's'

[catmando]

I have friends whose surname is Davies. They have a black car. What is the correct use of the apostrophe if you substitute my friends' surname for Robinson in the following sentence:
The Robinsons' car is black.
Is it Daviess' which to me looks wrong, Davies' which I believe is correct for Davies in the singular, Davies's or none of the above?

[cupid04]

Come back MarkRae, he was good at all the grammar questions.

[Alagopus]

The plural of Davies would be Davieses then the apostrophe could go on the end [Davieses']. It looks odd but Davies' doesn't differentiate between singular and plural.

[Quizmonster]

"Keeping up with the Joneses" used to be a commonly-used saying to suggest that people felt they should always be as well off as their neighbours. That is, if THEY get a new car, WE should get a new car. On that basis, one of the Smiths at No 14 might say of the Joneses at No 20, "The Joneses' car is a Jaguar!"
If the family at No 20 were the Davieses, the same would apply, "The Davieses' car is a Jaguar!"
Having said that, if the proliferation of 's' sounds is clumsy, you have the option of avoiding part of the name. For example, in the singular, you can refer to "Jesus' crucifixion" rather than "Jesus's crucifixion". Similarly, in the plural, there is nothing to stop you writing, "The Davies' car is a Jaguar."

[boxtops]

Davies'

Their surname is one of those which, ending in S, will be the same in the plural as it is in the singular, IMO

It's easier to say - that car belongs to the Davies family....

[FredPuli43]

If the name in the singular ends in an S, like Davies , the possessive should be " 's ", hence Davies's or St James's.

[boxtops]

snap, QM and Fred, we think alike on this one :-)

[BlueToffee]

If in doubt how about.......tha car that belongs to the Davies family.....

[factor-fiction]

You would refer to them as the Davieses rather than the Davies, so I see no reason to change that when using the possessive. Therefore it should be the Davieses' car.

However, there is not universal agreement as to the rules for using apostrophes with proper names ending in S. We see St Thomas's/St Thomas', Pythagoras'/Pythagoras's theorem, Jesus's/Jesus'/Jesu's disciples. If you want to avoid being challenged on your apostrophe I would rewrite the sentence so a s to avoid it

[aelmpvw]

it would be easier to take all their possessions away from them

[boxtops]

I've never seen Jesu's disciples?

[Old_Geezer]

"The Robinsons' car is black." This is incorrect to start. You wrote that their surname was Robinson not Robinsons.

Daviess' should look wrong; I believe Davies' would be correct. The family name is singular. Or are you saying you have multiple families called Davies all of whom own a share in the car ?

[factor-fiction]

Hi boxtops- I remember as a child puzzling over the use of the word JESU'S in hymns at church
eg http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/s/g/l/sgljpeop.htm
Maybe Jesu is a different person/entity to Jesus.

[boxtops]

I recognise Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring.... perhaps it's that Jesu, but no idea who used to call him that!

[Tilly2]

All hail the power of Jesus' name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
bring forth the royal diadem,
and crown Him Lord of all.

When you sing this hymn, you sing 'Jesu's name', otherwise it doesn't fit the notes.

[boxtops]

Tilly, this is true.

[Bert]

Old Geezer is wrong in his answer. The family's name is Robinson, so, collectively, they would be referred to as "the Robinsons". You would not say that "the Robinsons's car is black" any more than you would say "ladies's bicycles don't have a crossbar."
Mr and Mrs Davies would be known as the Davieses, so it would be the Davieses' car is black, just like ladies' bicycles.
What authority can boxtops cite for saying that Davies would be one of those names ending in s that would be unchanged in the plural?

[jno]

depends what you actually call them, and what you'd call their car. Technically you should call them the Davieses but in real life many people would just say "the Davies" becauses saying ziz at the end of a word often sounds clumsy. If you call them the Davieses, it's the Davieses' car. If you call them the Davies, you should be able to call it the Davies' car.

[Old_Geezer]

They would collectively be known as the Robinson family. You would say that the Robinson's car is black. You would say "ladies' bicycles don't have a crossbar."

Mr and Mrs Davies would be known as the Davies family, so it would be the Davies' car that is black.

[vetuste_ennemi]

The example asks for the possessive plural, so I agree with Alogopus and Quizmoster: plural Davieses, possessive Davieses'.

[THECORBYLOON]

Why do we not just add an "s" to a family name? If an "es" is added to "Jones" in the plural, does Kennedy become Kennedys or Kennedies? When actor Brian Cox is together with astronomer Brian Cox, are they Coxs or Coxes?.