Thursday, July 30, 2009
The Apostrophe: What Did It Ever Do to You?
It's such a cute little punctuation mark. Why do people abuse it so? I'm not sure what's worse: when folks don't include it (ex. "Its so hot outside!") or when they include it incorrectly (ex. "I went on vacation with the Smith's."). Some quick rules:1) Its = a possessive (ex. "The cat licked its paws.") This is the only way that this word should not have an apostrophe. You can maybe get a pass for leaving it out in a quick text message. But even then, you're running the risk of looking grammatically inadequate.
2) Stop using apostrophes to pluralize! If you want to talk about more than one of something, just throw the S on it.
If you're feeling smug, as if these are basic principles of good English, let's move to the advanced class:
Which of the following is correct?
a) Chris' sneakers
b) Chris's sneakers
c) Chrises sneakers
Post a comment with your vote... :-)
Comments:
<< Home
My BLS education taught me that C is clearly the way to go...
Also - I once dated a girl who NEVER put apostrophes (apostrophe's? I kid!) on anything - it drove me batty. Sadly, not batty enough to actually de-facebook her though.
Also - I once dated a girl who NEVER put apostrophes (apostrophe's? I kid!) on anything - it drove me batty. Sadly, not batty enough to actually de-facebook her though.
Well, it's b) right?? Because although it ends with an "s" it's someone's name... you wouldn't need the extra "S" if it was just a noun... ummm... right?!?! Or is it the other way around?!?! ARRRGGGHH!!!!!!! I'm about to go and google that little sucker...
Wait... I changed my mind (again) a)... no b)... pfffff, I don't know... I can't delete this posting too!!! Ok, google time for real... (and talking about punctuation, what's with all those "..."??? I'm really into "dot-dot-dot")... he he
Ok, wow, I'm totally stalking this installment Rache!! So, I googled the apostrophe possessive thingy... now I know for sure! Thanks Rache!
my early english education, which was on a british isle, taught me ownership is signified by the apostrophe after the name, so since they are his sneakers, it should be chris' sneakers.
# posted by 
: 7/31/09, 8:11 AM
: 7/31/09, 8:11 AM
Micko, you're cracking me up. Anonymous, I'm sorry. It's not clearly A. The correct answer is B, although modern convention has made it somewhat acceptable to drop the S after the apostrophe on a singular name or word that already ends in S. But if you want to be a real grammar guru, you should write something like "Darius's date" with confidence.
I must confess I would have said A too.
I studied English as a second language and I remember they taught us that when a word is already ending with an S, to make the genitive you just add an apostrophe at the end without the usual S.
I should track down my high school teacher and tell her she was wrong... but probably she has already retired. :-P
Seriously, thanks, that was an interesting thing to learn ;-)
I studied English as a second language and I remember they taught us that when a word is already ending with an S, to make the genitive you just add an apostrophe at the end without the usual S.
I should track down my high school teacher and tell her she was wrong... but probably she has already retired. :-P
Seriously, thanks, that was an interesting thing to learn ;-)
# posted by : 8/3/09, 5:07 AM
: 8/3/09, 5:07 AM
I did some research on the web. I also looked through my GMAT book.
A and B are correct and A is most commonly used. A is so commonly used that if you use B while taking the GMAT you will get it wrong!
So, you can use either option with confidence but only A if you're taking the GMAT :-)
Post a Comment
A and B are correct and A is most commonly used. A is so commonly used that if you use B while taking the GMAT you will get it wrong!
So, you can use either option with confidence but only A if you're taking the GMAT :-)
# posted by : 8/5/09, 10:49 AM
: 8/5/09, 10:49 AM << Home
