In a compound noun with a postpositive adjective, such as "Director-General" or "Court Martial," the noun is pluralized by using the plural form of the first word (i.e. "Directors-General" or "Courts Martial").

Question:

How are possessive forms of both the singular and plural compound nouns formed?

Answer formats:

Please include the "Director-General" and "Court Martial" example in your response.

You make the noun plural and the entire phrase possessive using the so-called “Saxon genitive”:

• The queen of England’s favorite food is cake.
• All queens of England’s favorite food is cake.

Compare:

• The attorney general’s office.
• All attorneys general’s offices.

If that annoys you when you do that, then as the doctor said, don’t do that — just use the ((generally) awkward) “Norman genitive” instead:

• Cake is the favorite food of all the queens of England.
• The offices of the attorneys general.