It has been almost a quarter-century since the launch of “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” a sci-fi comedy about two slacker teenagers traveling through time for a history project.
Bill and Ted may have been horrific in history, but they had a gift for grammar. They knew that when you have a “compound possession” — that is, when something belongs to two people at the same time — you only need one apostrophe.
Thus, it’s not “Bill’s and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” Only Ted’s name carries the possessive.
Here’s the rule: If two people (or entities) share the same thing — an adventure, a house, a car, an opinion, a child — only the second one requires an apostrophe. So, for example, you’d say, “The mayor and council’s budget,” if they shared the budget.
On the other hand, if the council and mayor have two separate budgets — or if Bill and Ted have separate adventures — then everything changes. In those cases, each person (or entity) would get its own apostrophe. “The mayor’s and council’s budgets.” It’s awkward, but it’s right.
Neil Chethik, aka the Grammar Gourmet, is executive director at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning (www.carnegieliteracy.org) and author of FatherLoss and VoiceMale. The Carnegie Center offers writing classes and seminars for businesses and individuals. Contact Neil at neil@carnegiecenterlex.org or (859)254-4175.