OK, listen in. I want to clarify this once and for all. I mark maybe a million words a year. And the person who bothers to get apostrophes right is the EXCEPTION rather than the norm. It would obviously save me a good deal of bother if people took two minutes to learn the rule.
I really don't think that it matters more than global warming or people coming to know Jesus. But it matters in its own way, because clear and accurate communication is what separates us from the grunting barbarians. The more we let things like this slide, the more likely we are to eat each other with ...knives and forks.
So here we are.
There are two uses for an apostrophe:
And that is all there is to it.
[NB People are totally confused by its and it's.
Just remember: Its is the possessive. It's is the contraction. If you can't turn its into it is in the sentence you are writing, write its.]
12 comments:
Thanks Michael.
It is easy.
I'm wondering why you have in brackets above: Jesus's...what's that about?
Isn't it only ever Jesus'?
I was doing XTB with Josh (aged 8) this very night - and he has evidently just done apostrophes at school and I was impressed with that.
And he put Jesus's and I told him no second s! You're making me wonder if I'm wrong! We never say St Giles's Church. It's St Giles'.
Just clarify for me would you?!
Tvm.
Neil, I've had the same question for a long time. Help us out Michael! The only explanation I've heard is that you can choose either so long as you're consistent.
But if you're NOT adding an 's' after the possessive apostrophe for singular nouns ending in 's', what do you do when you've got to write about the dog that James owns? James' dog just sounds weird to me... James's dog feels much better.
Thus ends Duncan Andrews'(s???) comment.
@Neil: it can be either according to local convention. Different style guides offer different advice.
I would however write Alex's.
Oh, and the plural of Jesus is 'Jesuses'.
@Duncan: either is fine.
I saw a hairdresser's sign once which read:
ALL SEX'S.
It starts here...but next you're going to have people learning Greek accent rules or something...
There is of course the more complex case of something like
the so-called "Robocop"'s policing methods
where you bless the Lord for inventing italics to save us.
Amen.
Put down your chopsticks and learn some basic grammar!
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your post. I have a lingering question though and wonder if you can sort this one out for me. In the following sentence, do I use an apostrophe or not? Can you tell me why/why not?
"The sentences construction was a little awkward"
I would have thought that because the sentence 'owns' its construction and therefore you DO use an apostrophe, but time and time again my uni assignments used to come back with with the apostrophe crossed out.
Can you tell me what is correct, please?
Thanks!
Jane
I think you are right. It should be 'sentence's' if the word is singular.
Clarity might demand that you write 'the construction of the sentence'
re the possessive for "Jesus", I believe I heard a rule once which said something about if there was an earlier syllable in the word which began/ended in 's' then you added the extra 's' after the apostrophe. Can anyone clarify?
Marty - Never heard that rule. As in so many things, Wikipedia is our friend, simply because it brings together references to most of the well known style guides.
Amen! As an English teacher, I'm encouraged that the good students of Moore get this wrong. I'm also indicted, of couse!
Just thought it worth mentioning that the 'its' rule also applies to all possessive pronouns. e.g. yours, theirs, whose, ours, etc.
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