A few days ago
cinderella

Possessive form of an all-caps word?

When a word is in all caps within a sentence and it is possessive, is the “s” after the apostrophy capitalized also?

For example, “ANIMAL’S” or is it “ANIMAL’s” (lower case “s”)?

I can’t find my answer when I google it.

Any style/grammar pro’s here?

Top 4 Answers
A few days ago
SV

Favorite Answer

I would suggest that if the word is capitalised within an otherwise normal sentence, then use ‘s (lower case).

But if the entire sentence is capitalised (perhaps in a title), then use ‘S (upper case).

0

A few days ago
jesteele1948
There is no such thing as “an all caps word”. You may choose to type a word all in caps, or an abbreviation or acronym may be customarily typed all in caps, but an abbreviation or acronym is not a word.

If you choose to type a word all in caps, you may add other punctuation as if you did not use all caps. Rarely is there a situation when an added “s” should be capitalized, but a possible reason is “it looks good on signage”. Using a cap “s” may mislead readers into thinking that the apostrophe and the “s” are part of the word or name. Keeping the “s” miniscule (small) assures there is no such misunderstanding.

If an abbreviation or acronym is also a name for something like an organization, then treat it like it were a proper name and add the punctuation you want according to the usual rules.

If the abbreviation or acronym is NOT the name for something, you cannot make it into a possessive.

1

A few days ago
krityk
uppercase.

one of the rules of writing is to not distract the reader with unusual word format. writing “ANIMAL’s” draws the readers attention to the fact that there is a small ‘s’ and away from the point the writer is trying to make. go with “ANIMAL’S” and the reader won’t look twice.

2

A few days ago
ML
You should write “ANIMAL’S”, upper case after apostrophe. No doubt.
0