The singular form of fish is fish. The plural form of fish is also fish. What are their possessive forms?
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2Note that fishes is also a valid plural form (used in certain contexts) and is confusingly similar in pronunciation to the possessive fish's. – TrevorD May 21 '13 at 00:44
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@TrevorD I believe that's for referring to groups of fish of different species. – batpigandme May 21 '13 at 01:24
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@batpigandme So? – Kris May 21 '13 at 07:07
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@Kris so, if you're wondering when to say fishes as opposed to fish now you know... I did many 'biodiversity' sample dives for marine biology, and when writing them up it certainly made a difference. – batpigandme May 21 '13 at 10:04
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Related. – tchrist May 14 '23 at 18:01
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As Wikipedia and the Purdue OWL both note:
- Singular possessives always add -’s.
- Plural possessives add -’s if they don't already end in s.
Because the plural fish does not end in s, it becomes fish’s, just like the singular form.
Note: In some contexts, the plural of fish is fishes. Because that does end in s, it becomes fishes’.
Bradd Szonye
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What a gigantic pain English can be and I am a native speaker. – SomeShinyObject May 21 '13 at 00:52
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Neither of the cited references says anything about fish or fishes -- or did I miss it? – Kris May 21 '13 at 07:07
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I know. However, the statement "Therefore,..." is categorical and suggests no riders to "whether it is singular or plural." – Kris May 21 '13 at 07:15