Correct English

[Aquagility]

There doesn't seem to be an appropriate section for this query, so let's see if it fits here.
I guess it's called the Possessive form of Proper Names. How should you spell 'something belonging to Chris'? Chris's or Chris'es or Chris'.. And Bess's, Bess'es, Bess'? And what about Perez's? Or Liz's?

[albaqwerty]

apostrophe s is possessive.
EG Liz's handbag

James' wallet, although James's wallet seems acceptable in some circles.

[frugalfred]

Get hold of a copy of "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" by Lynne Truss - she explains this in detail.

[bookbinder]

When in doubt, leave it out. That's the safest way of dealing with possessives of words that already end in s. But - having said that - I would write:
Chris's
Bess's
Perez's
Liz's
Leeds' new arena is almost complete.

[Zeuhl]

Chris's
Bess's
Perez's
Liz's

They may look weird but that is what you would say

[Old_Geezer]

If the word already ends in s I tend to only add the apostrophe not the additional s. Doesn't look right otherwise.

[bookbinder]

According to Sir Ernest Gowers (The Complete Plain Words, 1973), "There is no universally accepted code of rules governing the possessive case of names ending in s[i, but the most favoured practice ... seems to be not just to put an apostrophe at the end of the word ... but to add another [i]s] - Mr. Jones's room, St. James's Street."

[Aquagility]

Thank you all.

f'fred, I have that book - all I have to do now is find it!

[Zeuhl]

Did Sisyphus own a wallet or an arena do you think?

[maggiebee]

Agree with OG. I would put Chris' book.

[FredPuli43]

And if that wasn't confusing enough, some names now spelled with S at the end were possessives of a singular; Harrods, Crufts, Selfridges; but their owners now omit the apostrophe. So is a catalogue for the dog show "a Crufts' ", " a Cruft's ", "a Crufts ", or "a Crufts's" catalogue?

And St Andrews, the town,also insists upon having no apostrophe at all

[maggiebee]

I would say "a Crufts Catalogue" as I've never heard it called Cruft. So, is Crufts singular or plural?

[FredPuli43]

Crufts takes its name from Charles Cruft, its founder, Maggie. So it was Mr Cruft's dog show or Cruft's dog show. That, or rather he, was a Cruft

[society]

DT explained this very simple recently on another thread. Wish I could find that thread for you. I take a looksie...