# Apostrophe-related grammar question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 12, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-related-grammar-question/546429 "2010-07-12T18:39:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-related-grammar-question/546429/1 "2010-07-12T18:39:02Z")
How does one write a possessive of a name which itself includes a possessive? I was trying to write a sentence talking about a thing belonging to Seattle Children’s (a local hospital), and ended up having to restructure the sentence because I couldn’t figure out how to do the “double possessive”. “Seattle Children’s’s”? “Seattle Children’s”? Insert the word that has been dropped from their official name and use “Seattle Children’s Hospital’s”? If the latter, should I use brackets or lower-case or something to show that I know that’s not their real name? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-related-grammar-question/546429/2 "2010-07-12T18:56:43Z")
You handle it the same way you handle a period at the end of a sentence that ends with a period inside an abbreviation. (I live in the U.S.) You use just the one instance of punctuation already in place. So it would be, Seattle Children’s rooms are air-conditioned, or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-related-grammar-question/546429/3 "2010-07-12T20:03:06Z")
> [@ENugent](#): > > or something to show that I know that’s not their real name? Their [website](http://www.seattlechildrens.org/) seems to use “Seattle Children’s,” “Seattle Children’s Hospital,” and “Seattle Children’s Hospital, Research, and Foundation” freely interchangeably, so I wouldn’t think you would have to worry about that. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-related-grammar-question/546429/4 "2010-07-13T04:32:00Z")
Honestly? I’d reword to avoid. “The rooms at Seattle Children’s are…” “The SCH’s rooms are…” “The hospital’s rooms are…” ---
**Author:** ![Moonshiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@Moonshiner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonshiner)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-related-grammar-question/546429/5 "2010-07-13T11:49:22Z")
The phrase “Seattle Children’s” is incomplete. Seattle Children’s _what?_ ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-related-grammar-question/546429/6 "2010-07-13T13:22:04Z")
> [@Moonshiner](#): > > The phrase “Seattle Children’s” is incomplete. Seattle Children’s _what?_ That was answered in the OP: > [@](#): > > Insert the word that has been dropped from their official name and use “Seattle Children’s Hospital’s”? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-related-grammar-question/546429/7 "2010-07-13T14:29:05Z")
As I stated previously, the hospital itself seems to consider “Seattle Children’s Hospital” an acceptable form of its name. But supposing that they were dead set against such usage, you could use “Seattle Children’s **h** ospital.” ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2010, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-related-grammar-question/546429/8 "2010-07-13T14:46:45Z")
“Seattle Children’s’” already includes an ellision. The second possessive belongs to the portion which has been elided. Therefore you either elide the second possessive ending (meaning you just leave it as “Seattle Children’s” or you restore the word which has been elided (“hospital”) and add the possessive to that. To make it a little more clear, the second apostrophe modifies “hospital” (not “children’s”), but if the word “hospital” has been elided (i.e. dropped from) the name of the hospital to shorten it, then the second apostrophe gets dropped right along with it. So it’s either “Seattle Childrens’” with “hospital’s” dropped entirely, or “Seattle Children’s Hopspital’s.” What you would not do is add two possessives to “children’s.” “Children’s” modifies “hospital” only (even if “hospital” is elided). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-related-grammar-question/546429/9 "2010-07-14T04:08:55Z")
Still, you’ll really silly referring to McDonald’s restaurant’s (French) fries. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-related-grammar-question/546429/10 "2010-07-14T05:38:02Z")
Usually, when a trademarked, foreign, translated, or other unusual proper noun has unusual grammar (or pronunciation, for that matter,) it’s best to ask someone at the company or from that country to help you. My WAG here is that “Seattle Children’s” is not the hospital’s full name and is a nickname given to it by people who work there or the community. Within the hospital, I would guess that the letterhead says something else. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2010, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-related-grammar-question/546429/11 "2010-07-14T16:07:33Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > My WAG here is that “Seattle Children’s” is not the hospital’s full name and is a nickname given to it by people who work there or the community. Within the hospital, I would guess that the letterhead says something else. [The history of Seattle Children’s name.](http://www.seattlechildrens.org/about/history/name-history/)