Grammar freaks, unite!

[Craig3410]

I need help: In a paper of mine, I'm trying to use "the upper class" to have a possessive, and I forgot if it's "the upper class's", "the upper class'", or something else I forgot.

Thanks!

[RebelOne]

1. The proper use would be the upper class'

To make plural words possessive, add an apostrophe if the word ends in an s. If it is a proper name then you would use an apostrophe and s. I am sort of a grammar nazi as that's how I make my living. I am a copy editor.

[Benfea]

5. I concur. n/t

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. What's the entire sentence?

[Craig3410]

3. Right here...

The taking of (usually the lower class') private property for (usually the upper class's) private for-profit use is distinctly Marxian; the class of the factory owners (the upper class) is taking the land of the factory workers (the middle- and lower-class).

[SteppingRazor]

4. I think there's a more basic problem with the sentence...

How is the upper class' control of the means of production "distinctly Marxian?" If anything, it's the opposite.

[Burma Jones]

10. Maybe s/he meant Groucho

[Call Me Wesley]

7. Besides, there's no 'middle class' in Marxist theory. (nt)

[Oeditpus Rex]

8. I'd recast the entire sentence

It is distinctly Marxian for private property to be taken for private, for-profit use — usually from the lower and middle classes (the factory workers) by the upper class (the factory owners).

[Orrex]

9. I would likewise rephrase the sentence

I think that the parentheses in this case sort of overwhelm the structure. Is it possible to omit some or all of them by rephrasing the sentence?

[LynzM]

6. class' (n/t)