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OK, sorry people, I am not an English teacher, but I could sure use a little help here. I am aware that the apostrophe can be used to show possession or ownership. However, a word like "harm" can not own or possess, so I think it goes after the end of the word, like "harms'". Is that correct?
Much peace
Khadijah
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Comments
Nope
"In harm's way" is one of English's few uses of the genuine genitive, I think, instead of a mere possessive. The apostrophe goes after the s only in cases where this makes it clear that we are using a plural.
That is: the girls' dresses but the women's dresses.
Yeah, it's confusing and probably originated as a convention in print shops hundreds of years ago since there is no difference in how it's pronounced.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
and...
the ladies' dressing room. As opposed to the Lady's dressing room.
I think.
Girls’ dresses
That is: the girls's dresses but the women's dress.
Sorry, Erin, but I’d never write the first of these. I think that should be, “the girls’ dresses.â€
Punctuation’s Strange
Bike Resources
Bike Resources
Typo
I got interrupted by a phone call while posting that and made an erorr. Fikst nwo. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Either is correct...
...as long as it's consistent. Either way, they're pronounced the same.
The only time the apostrophe S is mandatory is when the "S" isn't pronounced, as in Arkansas.
But there are exceptions that people argue over, like "boss."
Although either is correct, most people pronounce this as [bosez], and some would have us stuff in an apostrophe S, so "boss's." Others say that how we pronounce it is optional, and some say [bos], so the apostrophe is redundant.
Every apostrophe scheme runs into local habits from time to time.
For pure cussedness, it's hard to beat grammarians, although many would profit from the lesson.
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
-
Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
As a pedant myself, I can
As a pedant myself, I can say that a large oak truncheon works just fine to deal with grammarians. No difficulty in any way
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Someone please shoot me now.
Someone please shoot me now.
Pure cussedness
Anatomists are also good at cleaving lagomorphs.
Angharad
Angharad
Wow, thanks.
Now, I have a whole bunch of stuff to fix, and I am really glad that I asked before I published.
:)
Khaduuj
You're welcome, but...
...one instance seems to have been neglected.
I speak of the possessive of Jones for instance.
Bill has a car and it would be Bill's car, but what about Mr Jones?
Well, I may be wrong, but I'm sure that would go: Mr. Jones' car, with the apostrophe going at the end, rather than apostrophe 'S'.
Just thought I'd throw that one in for good measure.
I don't just look it, I'm totally not into being beaten by stout cudgels of any form...
Maybe not
Here in CA and my native Arkansas that would likely be Jones's car. But don't let's get started on Moses's toeses which he supposes are roses, erroneously. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
Being one whose surname ends in 'S' ...
oops - duplicated entry. I hit post and after 8 minutes of nothing happening, except the green band at the bottom of the screen slowly slowly slowly exapnding, I hit the red cross and re-posted!
Being one whose surname ends in 'S' ...
... then I had it drummed into me at an early age.
An apostrophe never affects pronunciation! An added 's' does affect pronunciation.
Anything belonging to my family was and is (according to my teachers) the Phillips'. The usual 's' ending of a word indicating possession (derived from the same root as used in German) is NOT to be added if the word already ends in an 's'. So to have the extra 's' would make the word Fillipsez, which I have been informed on a gazillion occasions is incorrect.
Anything belonging to a young man whose abbreviated name is Phil would be Philip's.
Both pronounced the same.
Of course, the other use of the apostrophe is to indicate one or more missing letters, don't you know?
According to my teachers
The way I've been taught:
The word unchanged: x
Posessive: x's
Plural: xs
Posessive of plural: xs'
The word unchanged: xs
Posessive: xs's
Plural: xses
Posessive of plural: xses'
The word unchanged: xce
Posessive: xce's
Plural: xces
Posessive of plural: xces'
The word unchanged: x (plural without ending in s sounds)
Posessive of plural: x's
As such, anything belonging to a Mr. Philips would be Mr. Philips's, never Mr. Philips' because Philips is not plural but a singular proper name ending in s. Anything belonging to the family (the Philipses) would be the Philipses' property.
But I'm not sure I've been taught the correct way or not.
Rules to ' by
Those were the rules I learned too, except that exceptions were made for certain proper names whose origins were Greek or Latin; like Jesus -- the possessive of which was supposed to be Jesus'. Then I got into college English and was told that everything I thought I knew about punctuation was just local custom. :)
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.