Questions relating to the use of the apostrophe (’).
1
vote
1answer
48 views
Pluralizing shortened words
I'm stumped at this forum reply which states that the contracted plural of "regulation" is "reg's".
"Cigarettes" is shortened to "cigs", as far as i know, but perhaps that's because "a cig" is a ...
1
vote
0answers
39 views
Where should the apostrophe be for the singular and plural possessive forms of user? [closed]
My understanding of apostrophe usage for possessive forms of the word "user" is this:
Referring to a single user - user's.
Referring to multiple users - users'.
Is this correct? If not, what is? ...
1
vote
1answer
32 views
Attributive or Possessive noun
In the following is it better to use a possessive noun with an apostrophe or an attributive noun without an apostrophe?
The following list details the assumptions that have been made in
...
0
votes
2answers
57 views
Plural of “uh-oh” and “oh-no”
Does the plural form of uh-oh and oh-no include an apostrophe? So is it "uh-oh's and oh-no's" or "uh-ohs and oh-nos"?
I've seen it both ways and cannot find a definitive answer anywhere.
7
votes
7answers
3k views
Apostrophes and caps in Happy Mother’s Day / Happy Mothers’ Day
So, I’m writing this as it is Mother’s (or maybe Mothers’) Day today, and I was wondering what would be a correct way to write that.
Should the apostrophe come be between the r and the s, or after ...
-3
votes
0answers
61 views
's 's ?! Works or not? [closed]
If we are talking about hats for example.
Mine is blue.Tom's is white.
Can I use the contraction of is in the previous sentence.
So it'll be like this 'Tom's 's white' !!
Is it grammatically ...
3
votes
1answer
38 views
Name, Conditions, and Pluralization of “Conscience' sake”
In some versions of the Bible, 1 Cor. 10:25 contains the phrase conscience' sake with no s following the possessive apostrophe of conscience, which does not end with s, as in:
New American ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
Is “what’s” a correct short form of “what does”?
E.g. “What’s he think?”
Usually ’s is short for “is” so I don’t know.
0
votes
1answer
43 views
How to denote possession with “Bureau of Statistics” [duplicate]
When denoting possession with Bureau of Statistics, does one use "Bureau's of Statistics" or "Bureau of Statistics'"?
E.g.
according to the Bureau's of Statistics Consumer Price Index
...
0
votes
0answers
20 views
Apostrophe Usage with Arkansas [duplicate]
Currently, we are having an issue at work where we may not be able to tack on apostrophes to words programmatically, in order to make them possessive, because of certain edge cases; such as Arkansas' ...
2
votes
2answers
144 views
What’s the word for the habit of writing “play’d” or “revolv’d”?
I’m working on an 18th-century manuscript, and I’m trying to explain to others the use of ’d in past tense verbs.
Is there a word that encompasses the usage of ’d in early 18th-century manuscripts? ...
-1
votes
1answer
45 views
Usage of both apostrophe and “of” together [duplicate]
I was reading Agatha Christie’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and noticed following sentence:
About those boots of Ralph Paton’s.
It is really in old (old as in early or mid twentieth century) ...
12
votes
4answers
574 views
Why did they spell it “URL’s”?
I was reading this documentation file of some software and note the plural spelling of this abbreviation is “URL’s”. Why isn’t it “URLs”?
12
votes
5answers
3k views
“Do's” and “don'ts” or “do's” and “don't's”?
I am making a list to my children telling them what are some of the things they should do and shouldn't. Under one side is "do", and the other is "don't".
Would I write "do's" and "don't's"?
Cause ...
18
votes
2answers
27k views
Is there an apostrophe in a master's degree?
The question asks it all really. When referring to a master's degree, do you use an apostrophe or not? That is, is it "a master's" or "a masters"?
2
votes
1answer
45 views
Should I answer the phone with “Mr. Beltz’s office” or “Mr. Beltz’ office”?
How would you pronounce the following when answering a phone for a boss whose last name is Beltz? Some people are saying Mr. Beltz’s office, pronouncing the extra s, and someone else thinks you should ...
-1
votes
1answer
251 views
Apostrophes and s's [duplicate]
I always forget the rule about if something is possessive put 's at the end, for example "the sailor's hat". I know some people say to remember because it has a different meaning if it's plural (e.g. ...
3
votes
1answer
70 views
How to use possessives apostrophes when the word ends with a symbol?
For example, if I want to say an account of Google+, is it the same as say a Google+'s account?
In other words, are possessives formed in the same way as always, no matter whether the word ends in ...
11
votes
3answers
33k views
“Doctor's appointment” or “doctors appointment”?
I've looked this up online, but I can't find any explanations from reasonably credible sources, so I'm posting my question here! (Was that a comma splice?)
Should I refer to the appointment that I ...
36
votes
3answers
4k views
What is the correct possessive for nouns ending in “‑s”?
What is the possessive of a noun ending in ‑s? Are these both right, or is the second one wrong?
the boys' books
the boss' car
35
votes
6answers
2k views
When did it become correct to add an “s” to a singular possessive already ending in “‑s”?
According to my grammar book, but at variance to the answer to this question, the correct singular possessive if a word ends in ‑s is:
James’s car
The grammar book allows exceptions for ...
0
votes
0answers
101 views
“Theirs” vs. “their’s” [closed]
Which of the following two sentences is correct?
Your grammar is terrible, but you insult people for theirs?
Your grammar is terrible, but you insult people for their’s?
What would be correct ...
-1
votes
1answer
91 views
Use of Apostrophes - FAQs vs FAQ's [duplicate]
Is it also correct to say FAQ's as some sites like http://transition.fcc.gov/oet/rfsafety/rf-faqs.html refer? Or is FAQs the right and correct way to say it?
11
votes
4answers
1k views
5
votes
3answers
2k views
Do things use apostrophe for indicating possessive? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Is using the possessive 's correct in “the car's antenna”?
If someone owns something I would say: Mom's car.
But if the owner is not a person, does ...
6
votes
4answers
184 views
Using apostrophes correctly
I've read a great article about the usage of apostrophes. But there are still some points that are unclear.
Why do we say...
school project but not school's project?
car service but not car's ...
-1
votes
2answers
123 views
I'm trying to show ownership to a plural noun in parentheses
I'm drafting a lease document and have to state the following provision.
The Lessee(s) holds the Lessor and the United States harmless from any loss, liability or damages resulting from the ...
4
votes
3answers
3k views
User’s Guide vs Users’ Guide
I’ve been looking over what has been posted regarding the use of ’s.
I used to be a Technical Writer (years ago). The title of one of our training documents was Users’ Guide. Once, a coworker said ...
0
votes
3answers
126 views
In the sentence below, is the apostrophe after the 's' correct? [closed]
This commitment ensures when there is an opportunity to improve on our members’ quality of life, we have the information needed
3
votes
2answers
464 views
Use of apostrophes
Should it read "The contractor shall provide details of the companies ability with regard to resources" or "The contractor shall provide details of the companys ability with regard to resources"? Is ...
10
votes
5answers
4k views
Apostrophe-“s” vs “of ”
I gave a quick answer to part of this question which had not been covered by previous answers, trying to clarify the reason you would say time of decoding but not decoding’s time. I said it was ’s ...
0
votes
0answers
97 views
Why are apostrophes so important? [closed]
Why are apostrophes so important? Where did they come from? Wouldn't it be better to just get rid of them altogether?
22
votes
7answers
6k views
Plurals of acronyms, letters, numbers — use an apostrophe or not?
When I was in high school back in the 1970s, I was taught that to make a plural of an acronym, a letter, or a number, one should add an apostrophe and "s". Like I would have written this sentence, ...
0
votes
1answer
75 views
What's the difference between “a picture of the king” and “a picture of the king's”? [closed]
A picture of the king.
A picture of the king's.
What exactly is the difference between the two?
0
votes
1answer
177 views
What’s the pronunciation of “ s’ ”? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the pronunciation of the possessive words that already end in s?
“The Weasley twins’ friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for
the match.”
Do ...
1
vote
2answers
167 views
Why is an apostrophe used in the genitive “-’s”?
The English possessive isn’t a contraction, but rather a relic of the grammatical case system, so why is an apostrophe used in (most) forms of the possessive?
8
votes
1answer
602 views
How did an apostrophe plus the letter “s” come to indicate possession? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
Origins of possessive pronouns
How did English come to use "apostrophe s" to indicate possession, when it seems to me that few (if any!) other languages do (or do ...
10
votes
3answers
321 views
Where did the practice of using apostrophes for possessive nouns but not pronouns originate?
Where did the practice of using apostrophes for possessive nouns but not pronouns originate?
For example, possessive nouns (both proper and common) are written with a apostrophe before the final s:
...
5
votes
3answers
1k views
How to indicate possession when using abbreviation “Dr.”
I often run into a case where I need to say I have a doctor's appointment, but how would I properly punctuate it if I wanted to use the abbreviation Dr. instead of the word doctor? Dr.'s appointment ...
17
votes
3answers
842 views
Possessive of a word that is already possessive
If the cricket ground Lord's is a possessive, what if you want to describe something belonging to Lord's? Would you say "I was very impressed by Lord's's customer services"?
It doesn't look right, ...
1
vote
1answer
58 views
Proper apostrophe usage? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What is the proper way to write the plural of a single letter? (another apostrophe question)
Plurals of acronyms, letters, numbers — use an apostrophe or not?
Take for ...
0
votes
1answer
82 views
Chained possessive words [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“My wife and I’s seafood collaboration dinner”
I’m sure there are better ways to write the following sentence, but I was curious to know if this sentence is ...
2
votes
2answers
207 views
What’s the plural of “Valentine’s”
If I want to form the plural of “Valentine’s” as a short form of “Saint Valentine’s Day” – where do I put the apostrophe(s)? Is it possible at all?
I believe that Valentines’, although the normal ...
1
vote
0answers
25 views
Do's and don'ts - wrong apostrophe? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
“Do’s” and “don’ts” or “do’s” and “don’t’s”?
I always see Do's and don'ts, but in my opinion it must be "Dos and don'ts", or is there any rule where there is an ...
14
votes
2answers
424 views
What is the correct spelling of “buyer* remorse”?
Apostrophical query:
a) Buyers Remorse
b) Buyer Remorse
c) Buyer's Remorse
d) Buyers' Remorse
My guess is b or c, as it seems like any example is talking about the remorse of one specific buyer, ...
1
vote
2answers
2k views
“Each other's presence” vs. “each others' presence” [closed]
Which of the following is correct?
spend time in each other's presence
spend time in each others' presence
5
votes
5answers
1k views
What’s the correct plural possessive of “kids”?
I know that children’s books is correct, but for some reason I want to say kids books, even though I know that it’s a plural possessive noun ending in an s.
A quick search on the web turns up Barnes ...
-2
votes
2answers
80 views
Use of apostrophe in days?
Is it:
As Lilly lay down tucked up in her bed, all the days events span round in her head.
or
As Lilly lay down tucked up in her bed, all the day’s events span round in her head.
3
votes
2answers
2k views
Is the word “women's” a typo?
My browser's spellcheck says it is, but I can't figure out why. Is Firefox sexist?
-2
votes
1answer
71 views
When an item belongs to Bob, is it Bob's item or Bobs item [closed]
Should I use:
That is Bob's phone
He is Bob's student
Bob's car is red
or:
That is Bobs phone
He is Bobs student
Bob's car is red
