Apostrophe's

[Michael]

Yeah, the misuse of apostrophes annoys me. Not as much as the complete disregard of words that ought to be capitalized, though.

Oh, and German speakers are exceptionally bad when it comes to using apostrophes. I'm sure that's because of the huge influence of the English language on our vocabulary.

 

[Azlynn]

I share a classroom with another teacher and noticed "Apostrophe's" on the board yesterday... I illicitly erased the ' and sneaked out.

 

[Vulcan Princess]

I have a t-shirt that says "Bad grammar makes me [sic]!"

I want that t-shirt!!!

You can get the shirt here.

 

[nevermore]

^ AHHHHH, he didn't start a sentence with a capital!

*pulls hair out*

*wait, that's not my hair...*

 

[Australis]

It is not hard.

"It's" = "it is"
The possessive is without an apostrophe. "Its fur was coarse and matted".

Or, to put it another way: "It's at home in its enclosure".

Yes, I KNOW it doesn't look quite right - nevertheless, it is correct.

Singular words (bike, car), the apostrophe is before the 's' "The car's wheels"
Plural words (bikes, cars), the apostrophe is after the 's' "The cars' wheels"

It's not hard. And it's one thing that really gives me the irrits.

Here endeth the lesson.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Yeah, the misuse of apostrophes annoys me. Not as much as the complete disregard of words that ought to be capitalized, though.

Oh, and German speakers are exceptionally bad when it comes to using apostrophes. I'm sure that's because of the huge influence of the English language on our vocabulary.

Aren't all nouns in German capitalised, though? I personally like that system, especially as that sort of thing works well in English in order to provide Emphasis™. (The overuse of the Trademark Symbol™ is also good. )

 

[Tiberius Jim]

What really bothers me is when people put another "s" after making a word that ends in "s" possessive. It happens all the time when people (and computers/websites) write my name in the possessive. If I see "James's" somewhere again I might snap.

 

[Michael Chris]

That is actually how I was taught.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

What really bothers me is when people put another "s" after making a word that ends in "s" possessive. It happens all the time when people (and computers/websites) write my name in the possessive. If I see "James's" somewhere again I might snap.

I see nothing wrong with the extra "s", but omitting it appears to make sense in the plural possessive cases.

For example, to me, "James's" refers to something belonging to someone called James.
"Jameses'" refers to something belonging to two or more people called James.
"James'" suggests it is referring to something belonging to two or more people called Jame.

 

[Tiberius Jim]

I've been taught my entire life that when a word ends with an S, you don't add a second S after the apostrophe.

 

[StolenThunder]

It's not unusual to see the additional S here. For example, St James's.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

It's not unusual to see the additional S here. For example, St James's.

There's also the other famous St. James's, in Leeds. Also known as Jimmy's (and not Jimmys').

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_James's_University_Hospital,_Leeds

 

[K'Ehleyr]

Or, to put it another way: "It's at home in its enclosure".

Yes, I KNOW it doesn't look quite right - nevertheless, it is correct.

Singular words (bike, car), the apostrophe is before the 's' "The car's wheels"
Plural words (bikes, cars), the apostrophe is after the 's' "The cars' wheels"

See that's one example that has me diving for 'eats, shoots and leaves'.
If it were 'the horses enclosure' would that have an apostrophe? Because surely the enclosure belongs to the horse, then why does the enclosure not belong to 'it' and therefore deserve an apostophe too?

Thanks for link VP

 

[Iasius]

Don't they annoy you when they're used incorrectly?

There mistake's might of annoyed me at times, I guess.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Or, to put it another way: "It's at home in its enclosure".

Yes, I KNOW it doesn't look quite right - nevertheless, it is correct.

Singular words (bike, car), the apostrophe is before the 's' "The car's wheels"
Plural words (bikes, cars), the apostrophe is after the 's' "The cars' wheels"

See that's one example that has me diving for 'eats, shoots and leaves'.
If it were 'the horses enclosure' would that have an apostrophe? Because surely the enclosure belongs to the horse, then why does the enclosure not belong to 'it' and therefore deserve an apostophe too?

Thanks for link VP

If "Horses" was a proper noun (with Capitalisation™ [Seriously, now, stop it - someone™]) then "The Horses Enclosure" might make some sense without an apostrophe.

By the way, I'm thinking of getting this T-shirt at some point...

 

[K'Ehleyr]

Morning Zee
So then are you saying 'the horse's enclosure' is correct?

 

[chrisspringob]

I just want to know why people call it Mother's Day rather than Mothers' Day. It is a day for *all* mothers, right?

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Morning Zee

Afternoon.

So then are you saying 'the horse's enclosure' is correct?

If it belongs to that particular horse, then yes.

If it's an enclosure used by group of horses, particularly if the horses are being referred to in the conversation or description, the correct term would be "the horses' enclosure" - plural possessive and all that. There's also "the horse enclosure" which is also perfectly acceptable, describing a generic enclosure for use by horses, as opposed to an enclosure that specifically belongs to a group of horses.

I just want to know why people call it Mother's Day rather than Mothers' Day. It is a day for *all* mothers, right?

We call it Mothering Sunday, which I've learned is something completely different to the American commemorative day.

 

[K'Ehleyr]

I just want to know why people call it Mother's Day rather than Mothers' Day. It is a day for *all* mothers, right?

I concur! Explaination from the experts please .

Saying it's Mothering Sunday is just a cop-out Zee

As for 'the horse's enclosure', shouldn't it be 'the horse's paddock' anyway?

 

[JustKate]

I've been taught my entire life that when a word ends with an S, you don't add a second S after the apostrophe.

Either way is correct, actually. I've read that there's a slight preference for s's in British English and a slight preference for s' in American English, but I can't say I've seen this for myself and anyway it's a preference not a hard-and-fast rule. Anyway, either way can be justified by grammar and common practice. Just so long as you put the damn apostrophe in the right place, you can either add the extra "s" or not, depending on your preference.

K'ehleyr, if you cease using apostrophes in possessives, you will break my heart. Really. Almost as much as that "apostrophe's" in the title line.