paul.peace
01-08-2006, 09:12
I did some proof-reading for an academic linguist at University of Sheffield and I had always had difficulty with apostrophes so I asked him how to use them. As it's a common problem I thought I would share his advice:
"You probably know that the apostrophe indicates possession: before the
-s for singular, after for plurals:
the boy's car (sg.)
the boys' car (pl.)
There are a few nouns that have irregular plurals not ending in -s. We
treat these like singulars, i.e. add -'s:
the children's toy (pl.)
Some nouns already end in -s in the singular, or they sound like they
end in -s. Here it's safest to add -'s:
James's book
Marx's philosophy
Mr Jones's house
Sometimes you see these treated like plurals (James' book, Mr. Jones'
house) but that's rare these days. Some people nonetheless insist on an
exception for Jesus and Moses and some other biblical figures (Jesus'
disciples, Moses' commandments) but this is more a preference than a rule.
Plain old plurals don't have an apostrophe, even if the word normally
ends in a vowel, although numerals are a bit of a hazy area:
Tangerines are on sale this week.
That restaurant has good pizzas.
The 1980s/1980's were the decade of techno-pop (but only: the
nineteen-eighties).
He kept rolling 7s/7's (but only: sevens).
My preference with numerals is to hold to the same rule as for other
plurals, just to be consistent.
The big exception to all these rules is the possessive form of "it".
This NEVER has an apostrophe:
We need to discuss it, because its consequences will be far-reaching. The hedge trimmer cut through its own power cord.
This is so it doesn't get confused with the contracted form of "it is",
which is ALWAYS spelled with an apostrophe (as are all contracted forms
of "is"):
It's a beautiful day.
He said that it's only a matter of time.
There's no time.
He's no rocket scientist.
The apostrophe never, ever goes after the "its" or after the -s when it
is a contracted form if "is".
And those are the apostrophe rules in a nutshell."
____________________________________________
I won't be able to comment if you want more info or you disagree with any of this as I am putting my trust in his authority and experience (I don't know enough about it!). So it's a bomb and run I'm afraid. I found it really useful though and I hope some of you do too.
"You probably know that the apostrophe indicates possession: before the
-s for singular, after for plurals:
the boy's car (sg.)
the boys' car (pl.)
There are a few nouns that have irregular plurals not ending in -s. We
treat these like singulars, i.e. add -'s:
the children's toy (pl.)
Some nouns already end in -s in the singular, or they sound like they
end in -s. Here it's safest to add -'s:
James's book
Marx's philosophy
Mr Jones's house
Sometimes you see these treated like plurals (James' book, Mr. Jones'
house) but that's rare these days. Some people nonetheless insist on an
exception for Jesus and Moses and some other biblical figures (Jesus'
disciples, Moses' commandments) but this is more a preference than a rule.
Plain old plurals don't have an apostrophe, even if the word normally
ends in a vowel, although numerals are a bit of a hazy area:
Tangerines are on sale this week.
That restaurant has good pizzas.
The 1980s/1980's were the decade of techno-pop (but only: the
nineteen-eighties).
He kept rolling 7s/7's (but only: sevens).
My preference with numerals is to hold to the same rule as for other
plurals, just to be consistent.
The big exception to all these rules is the possessive form of "it".
This NEVER has an apostrophe:
We need to discuss it, because its consequences will be far-reaching. The hedge trimmer cut through its own power cord.
This is so it doesn't get confused with the contracted form of "it is",
which is ALWAYS spelled with an apostrophe (as are all contracted forms
of "is"):
It's a beautiful day.
He said that it's only a matter of time.
There's no time.
He's no rocket scientist.
The apostrophe never, ever goes after the "its" or after the -s when it
is a contracted form if "is".
And those are the apostrophe rules in a nutshell."
____________________________________________
I won't be able to comment if you want more info or you disagree with any of this as I am putting my trust in his authority and experience (I don't know enough about it!). So it's a bomb and run I'm afraid. I found it really useful though and I hope some of you do too.