Is It Harris' or Harris's?

01The battle for the White House is set as Vice President Kamala Harris officially accepts the Democratic Party nomination on Thursday to run against former President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.

02However, another fight is just starting among grammar nerds over where to put the possessive apostrophe after her name.

03Is it Harris' apostrophe or Harris' apostrophe S?

04Eric Turkowicz, a New York lawyer, called the debate Apostrophe Hell on the social media website X.

05It has since received more than two million views.

06The Associated Press style book says, use only an apostrophe for singular proper names ending in the letter S, such as Dickens' book, Hercules' labors, or Jesus' life.

07So for Harris, it is Harris, followed by an apostrophe, as in Harris's policy.

08The AP style book is widely used as the standard by American news organizations, but not everyone agrees.

09Three large U.S.

10newspapers, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal all use Harris, followed by an apostrophe, and the letter S, as in Harris's policy.

11Adding to the confusion, they all agree that the singular possessive for Harris's running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, is Walz's apostrophe S.

12As for the plural possessive, it is H-A-R-R-I-S-E-S apostrophe, or Harris's, as in Harris's family home, and W-A-L-Z-E-S apostrophe, as in Walz's cats.

13Benjamin Dreyer is a retired editor who worked for the publisher Random House.

14He wrote Dreyer's English, an utterly correct guide to clarity in style.

15He told the AP, There is widespread agreement that W-A-L-Z apostrophe S is correct, but many flooded him with questions about what to do with the apostrophe after Harris.

16Add the apostrophe and the letter S, Dreyer said.

17To set the apostrophe S is just simpler, and then you can take your valuable brain cells and apply them to more important things.

18The American Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster joined the debate with this reminder.

19For names that end in an S or Z sound, you can either add apostrophe S or just an apostrophe.

20Going with apostrophe S is the more common choice.

21The car that belongs to Jones, J-O-N-E-S apostrophe S car, or J-O-N-E-S apostrophe car.

22Amanda Barrett is AP's Vice President for News Standards and Inclusion.

23She said, While the AP style has evolved over the years, there are no plans to change the guidance on the possessive apostrophe S.

24Barrett added, We do know that the conversation is out there, and people make different choices when it comes to grammar, and that's all fine.

25Everyone makes a choice that works best for them.

26Timothy Pouliu teaches linguistics at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

27He said that until the 17th or 18th century, the possessive of proper names ending in the letter S, such as Jesus or Moses, often was simply the name itself with no apostrophe or additional S.

28Eventually, the apostrophe, Jesus apostrophe or Moses apostrophe, was added to mark the possession, although the pronunciation remained the same.

29That became kind of the standard that I was taught and adhered to, even though in retrospect, I don't think it's a great standard, he said.

30Pouliu expects most people will use the apostrophe followed by the letter S form over time.

31As long as people are communicating successfully, we say language is doing what it's supposed to be doing, he said.

32If you can read it, whichever way it's written, then it seems like it's working for people.

33Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts was the last U.S.

34presidential candidate whose name ended with the letter S.

35Dukakis told the AP that he does not remember any similar discussion when he was a Democratic nominee.

36But he agrees with the AP.

37It sounds to me like it would be S apostrophe and that's it, he said.

38If Harris wins in November, she would become the fourth U.S.

39president with a last name ending in the letter S and the first since Rutherford B.

40Hayes, who was elected in 1876.

41The Harris campaign has yet to take a clear position.

42Press releases issued by the campaign talked about Harris's, that's with an apostrophe S, positive vision, and Harris's, S apostrophe, seventh trip to Nevada.

43I'm Jill Robbins.