Grammar question

[Shosht]

The actresses dressing room was filled with flowers.
actresses- should it be actresse's or actresses' ?
And why?

 

[Kondorosi]

The actresses dressing room was filled with flowers.
actresses- should it be actresse's or actresses' ?
And why?

The word (noun) actresse does not exist in the English language. Go for the latter.

 

[Shosht]

sorry not sure what you mean by latter?

 

[bhaisahab]

If it is a dressing room shared by two or more actresses, "the actresses' dressing room" is correct.

 

[Shosht]

Yes, but in the question it says "was" so it would not be plural, right?

 

[bhaisahab]

Yes, but in the question it says "was" so it would not be plural, right?

"Was" refers to the dressing room not the actresses.

 

[Shosht]

Thank you so much. This was a confusion to a lot of us. In the book it had the wrong answer and no one was exactly sure.

 

[Barb_D]

Just to confirm:
The actress's dressing room was... (one actress, one room)
The actresses' dressing room was... (two (or more) actresses sharing one room)
The actresses' dressing rooms were... (two or more actresses with two or more rooms)

 

[Shosht]

One actress’s dressing room or actress’ dressing room?

 

[Kondorosi]

One actress’s dressing room or actress’ dressing room?

When a singular noun ends with an 's', both an apostrophe and and an apostrophe plus an '-s' are possible. With historical names, the possessive '-s' is often omitted. Otherwise, the other form is preferred.

 

[Shosht]

Do you mean s' or 's? Sorry I just find this very confusing.

 

[Kondorosi]

one actress's dressing room :tick:
one actress' dressing room :tick:

Use the first version.