I'm having a hard time deciding if these get apostrophes.
- The beauty of winters first snow.
- The days final light.
If either or both need the apostrophe, where should I place it, and why?
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Mari-Lou A
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Eli
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Related: 1 Is it correct to use an apostrophe to indicate something that belongs to an object? 2 Is using the possessive 's correct in “the car's antenna”? 3. “The dog's tail” vs. “the tail of the dog” – Mari-Lou A May 17 '17 at 07:15
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Also related: 4 Should “two weeks vacation” be written “two weeks’ vacation” with a possessive apostrophe? 5 Phrasing “An hour's rest” 6 Where should the apostrophe go in “three days work”? – Mari-Lou A May 17 '17 at 07:25
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The possessive apostrophe is required in both cases; the snow and the light belong to “winter” and “day” respectively. The apostrophe goes before the -s.
- The beauty of winter's first snow.
- The day's final light.
If days were meant to be plural, the possessive apostrophe should come after the -s, however, I would also recommend adding an adjective, or any qualifier, before the noun just to clarify.
- The autumn days' final light.
- The final light of autumn's days. (paraphrased)
Mari-Lou A
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