Is “Philippines” plural and what is its possessive form?

[Joe Carillo]

Three weeks ago I was pleasantly surprised to hear from a UK national who currently resides with his wife in the Northern Luzon city of Dagupan. Alex Horlock, who said he was reading my online English-usage forum, made this request by e-mail: “Hi, Jose! Can you tell me if ‘Philippines’s’ (with the s-apostrophe-s) is the correct singular possessive, as in ‘The Philippines’s connection with international business’?”

I would like to share with readers my reply to Alex and our ensuing conversation about a subject that’s admittedly very close to my heart, and particularly so because it concerns my own country.

I wrote: “The prescribed possessive form for countries with a plural form like the Philippines adds only the apostrophe—not apostrophe-‘s’—for the possessive: Philippines’. This is done in the same way as the possessives for these two other country names in the same grammatical situation: United States’ and Seychelles’. We therefore generally write ‘The Philippines’ reputation as the emerging English-language call-center hub of Asia has been growing rapidly, perhaps overtaking even India’s by now.’

                          IMAGE CREDIT: WOODWARDENGLISH.COM

USING THE WOODWARDENGLISH.COM CHART ABOVE FOR “APOSTROPHE + S POSSESSIVE NOUNS,”
THE PRESCRIBED USAGE FOR THE POSSESSIVE FORM OF THE COUNTRY-NAME “PHILIPPINES”
WOULD FALL UNDER THE “CLASSICAL/RELIGIOUS NAMES ENDING IN S” CATEGORY AS SHOWN,
WHICH ONLY ADDS THE APOSTROPHE (NO “S”) AFTER THE NOUN: PHILIPPINES’

“However, more discriminating Filipino writers studiously avoid that rather icky possessive construction for the Philippines and write it this longer but clearer way instead: ‘The reputation of the Philippines as the emerging call-center hub of Asia is now well-established, perhaps overtaking even India’s by now.’

“Since I can see that you’re very keen about correct English grammar and usage as to consult me about a particular aspect of it, I might as well suggest that you also check out this other reading in my Forum, ‘Let’s be firm on whether the name ‘Philippines’ is singular or plural’ (https://tinyurl.com/yx62ax3x). You’ll find that this seemingly trivial grammar matter has actually gotten a lot of people—big and small alike—into a lot of trouble.”

Here’s Alex’s rejoinder: “Thank you Jose (pronounced ‘Ho-zay’ or ‘Jo-zee’?) for your challenging email. I am confused though because in your 2017 repost of the 2011 forum entry, I understood it to mean that ‘Philippines’ was a SINGULAR NOUN. That forum entry was clarifying that ‘Philippines’ is a singular noun and you were admonishing others for using it as a plural noun! Yet in your reply to me, you describe “Philippines” as having a plural form. Is there a contradiction?”

I clarified this seeming contradiction to Alex: “Yes, I described the noun ‘Philippines’ as having a plural form for the simple reason that its spelling ends in ‘s,’ but this doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s plural in sense. We take it in the singular sense in the same way as the ‘s’-ending nouns ‘United States’ and ‘Seychelles.’ That’s actually another troublesome issue—the one taken up in my Forum posting ‘Let’s be firm on whether the name “Philippines” is singular or plural’ that I mentioned in my earlier reply.”

Alex: “Oh,  here’s a good one. So maybe there is no right-or-wrong... The ‘Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation’ (https://tinyurl.com/yx5qrwz9) explains the ambiguity as a matter of preference. So I think I will continue to use the s-apostrophe-s in Philippines’s just to annoy the anal and to spark nerdy debates.”

Me: “Thanks for copying me that link to the ‘Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation’ website. I agree with you that there maybe no right-or-wrong in the usual grammar hullabaloo over the possessive form for the noun ‘Philippines.’ It really all depends on the prevailing grammar convention in your geographical English region, so when you do use the possessive s-apostrophe-s for ‘Philippines’ in your prose meant for UK media, please copy me and I’d be delighted to join the debate when a grammar nerd lights a fuse over it.”

N.B. I forgot to answer Alex’s question on how my name “Jose” is pronounced. It’s “Jo-zee,” not “Ho-zay.”
 
(Next: How the two types of English determiners work)    December 5, 2019

This essay, 1,172nd of the series, appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the November 28, 2019 print edition of The Manila Times, © 2019 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.

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Let’s be firm on whether the name “Philippines” is singular or plural