Harris' Or Harris's? Ahead Of US Election, An Apostrophe Battle Brews Online

When US President Joe Biden announced his intent to run for the elections for the second time, questions were raised about his health and demands made for him to reconsider. That happened after numerous videos of Mr Biden's gaffes started circulating on social media. He finally relented allowing Kamala Harris to run as the Democrat candidate for the US presidential election. But before the Americans fight the electoral battle in a few months to elect their next president, a new debate has taken over social media that involves the apostrophe - is it Harris' or Harris's?

Her decision to choose Tim Walz as her running mate further fuelled the debate. Since his surname sounds like an S, grammar nerds are fired up.

"Setting aside the motivation for this article, where do my fellow writers stand on this? Personally, I'm a 'no s after the apostrophe' kind of kind. You?" Mark Anthony Owen, a poet, asked on X.

"My take on the most pressing question of the season: how to punctuate the possessive forms of (singular) Harris and Walz. As others have said, both Harris's and Harris' are accepted spellings. My pref is to spell it the way we say it in conversation - Harris's policies," posted author Melissa Wiley.

My take on the most pressing question of the season: how to punctuate the possessive forms of (singular) Harris and Walz. As others have said, both Harris's and Harris' are accepted spellings. My pref is to spell it the way we say it in conversation—Harris's policies.
1/2

— Melissa Wiley (@melissawiley) August 15, 2024

She also said since English is ever-evolving, the rules change over the years.

"A different rule of thumb ("rule" being a fuzzy term when it comes to a constantly evolving language) is the old-school take that the singular possessive with just an apostrophe was reserved for major historical or mythical figures: Zeus, Isis, Jesus, Moses. By that logic, the apostrophe-only styling definitely works: Kamala Harris' presidency will certainly be a major historical event! So either way you go, you're good."

The Merriam-Webster dictionary has a page mentioning the difference between words ending with S.

"To show possession using an apostrophe, add 's for individuals ("Smith's car") and just the apostrophe after the s for plurals ("the Smiths' car," "the Martinezes' dog"). By convention, names from classical mythology and the Bible ending in s show possession with the apostrophe only ("Jesus' teachings")."

However, some users pointed out that the more important discussion should be around the fact that whether Kamala Harris can defeat Donald Trump and become the first female President of the United States.