Too many people misuse and abuse this powerful little punctuation mark. The apostrophe might be small, but its meaning is significant. The apostrophe indicates
a. a possessive and
b. omitted letter(s) or number(s).
Correct apostrophe use is rather simple if you know the basic rules. First, do NOT use an apostrophe to mark a plural -- even in acronyms and numericals. The popular tendency to put an apostrophe in both (The 1980's were a heyday for hairspray, spandex, and Bon Jovi. // The DVD's are all scratched.) represents a gross misunderstanding of the apostrophe. The Society wishes to clarify.
In the case of letter/number omission, the apostrophe is easy: use it with contractions/omissions in words and numbers. For example,
a. Tom Jones couldn't (could not) find his favorite gold medallion;
b. Oprah has a fondness for big ol' (old) cats;
c. It's (it is) terrifying that pigeons eat sausage;
d. Jean-Luc Picard enjoyed his '76 (1976) cabernet;
e. We were the smoke-free class of '01 (2001).
Showing possessive is slightly more complicated (though not nearly as complicated as the grammatical boobs of the world would have us think):
a. If the noun is singular, add 's -- even if it ends in s or an s sound:
Prunella's bleating is annoying at 5 o'clock in the morning.
At least Charles's goats start crying earlier than mine.
I can hear the old-schoolers now: "But what about Jesus??" Folks who hold tight to Strunk and White & Co. (Hart in particular) want to say that archaic names (especially those whose 's would make for "awkward" sounds) don't need an 's when they end in s. The Society disagrees: for the sake of continuity, clarity, and democracy, we believe all singular nouns ending in s should have 's when possessing something:
Sophocles's plays are hilarious.
Jesus's miracles were miraculous.
If Jesus, Sophocles, Aristophanes, and Ramses only require an apostrophe to mark their possession of something, how is it clear that there aren't two or more of them? Ramses' pyramid is less clear than Ramses's pyramid. That is, in the first, there could be more than one Ramses. The Society realizes this is an unpopular opinion. The Society caren't.
b. If the noun is plural and ends in s, add only an apostrophe:
Our goats' screaming roused the whole block from sleep.
Our neighbors' slumber was interrupted dramatically.
The buses' windows' panes' glass was filthy.
c. If the noun is plural without ending in s, add 's:
The children's antics amused their grandparents.
The women's dancing was rather spastic.
The people's revolution was a success.
Strangely, there has long been a good deal of controversy surrounding the apostrophe. For example, some believe that the plurals of lowercase letters ought to be pluralized with an apostrophe. The Society disagrees for the sake of meaning and clarity (you'll hear that from us a lot). Take, for example, this example:
The student has a hard time writing the js
compared to
The student has a hard time writing the j's curve
or even
The student has a hard time writing the js' curves.
If we were to categorically pluralize letters with an apostrophe, then the meaning of the apostrophe when meant as a possessive would be both diminished and confused. In other words, we would lack precision, which is paramount in meaningful expression. A j can still possess something -- curves, lines, or ink. Adding the apostrophe does not impart the meaning it should. However, sometimes it is still necessary where logic demands: a's instead of as, i's instead of is, and the like. But we believe logical exceptions like this should be just that : logical exceptions.
Et voilà: the mysteries of the apostrophe revealed (the apostrophe's mysteries have been revealed).
Epilogue
Two apostrophes walk into a bar. The first apostrophe's remark is possessive: "Give me a beer!" The second apostrophe's remark is omissive: "I'd like something." The apostrophes' bartender, an exclamation point, proclaims, "I've known too many apostrophes whose apostrophes' meanings were unclear!" The apostrophes' unified reply: "Ours aren't!" The bartender is thrilled: the apostrophes' shared apostrophe's meaning is clear, and their drinks are delicious.
a. a possessive and
b. omitted letter(s) or number(s).
Correct apostrophe use is rather simple if you know the basic rules. First, do NOT use an apostrophe to mark a plural -- even in acronyms and numericals. The popular tendency to put an apostrophe in both (The 1980's were a heyday for hairspray, spandex, and Bon Jovi. // The DVD's are all scratched.) represents a gross misunderstanding of the apostrophe. The Society wishes to clarify.
In the case of letter/number omission, the apostrophe is easy: use it with contractions/omissions in words and numbers. For example,
a. Tom Jones couldn't (could not) find his favorite gold medallion;
b. Oprah has a fondness for big ol' (old) cats;
c. It's (it is) terrifying that pigeons eat sausage;
d. Jean-Luc Picard enjoyed his '76 (1976) cabernet;
e. We were the smoke-free class of '01 (2001).
Showing possessive is slightly more complicated (though not nearly as complicated as the grammatical boobs of the world would have us think):
a. If the noun is singular, add 's -- even if it ends in s or an s sound:
Prunella's bleating is annoying at 5 o'clock in the morning.
At least Charles's goats start crying earlier than mine.
I can hear the old-schoolers now: "But what about Jesus??" Folks who hold tight to Strunk and White & Co. (Hart in particular) want to say that archaic names (especially those whose 's would make for "awkward" sounds) don't need an 's when they end in s. The Society disagrees: for the sake of continuity, clarity, and democracy, we believe all singular nouns ending in s should have 's when possessing something:
Sophocles's plays are hilarious.
Jesus's miracles were miraculous.
If Jesus, Sophocles, Aristophanes, and Ramses only require an apostrophe to mark their possession of something, how is it clear that there aren't two or more of them? Ramses' pyramid is less clear than Ramses's pyramid. That is, in the first, there could be more than one Ramses. The Society realizes this is an unpopular opinion. The Society caren't.
b. If the noun is plural and ends in s, add only an apostrophe:
Our goats' screaming roused the whole block from sleep.
Our neighbors' slumber was interrupted dramatically.
The buses' windows' panes' glass was filthy.
c. If the noun is plural without ending in s, add 's:
The children's antics amused their grandparents.
The women's dancing was rather spastic.
The people's revolution was a success.
Strangely, there has long been a good deal of controversy surrounding the apostrophe. For example, some believe that the plurals of lowercase letters ought to be pluralized with an apostrophe. The Society disagrees for the sake of meaning and clarity (you'll hear that from us a lot). Take, for example, this example:
The student has a hard time writing the js
compared to
The student has a hard time writing the j's curve
or even
The student has a hard time writing the js' curves.
If we were to categorically pluralize letters with an apostrophe, then the meaning of the apostrophe when meant as a possessive would be both diminished and confused. In other words, we would lack precision, which is paramount in meaningful expression. A j can still possess something -- curves, lines, or ink. Adding the apostrophe does not impart the meaning it should. However, sometimes it is still necessary where logic demands: a's instead of as, i's instead of is, and the like. But we believe logical exceptions like this should be just that : logical exceptions.
Et voilà: the mysteries of the apostrophe revealed (the apostrophe's mysteries have been revealed).
Epilogue
Two apostrophes walk into a bar. The first apostrophe's remark is possessive: "Give me a beer!" The second apostrophe's remark is omissive: "I'd like something." The apostrophes' bartender, an exclamation point, proclaims, "I've known too many apostrophes whose apostrophes' meanings were unclear!" The apostrophes' unified reply: "Ours aren't!" The bartender is thrilled: the apostrophes' shared apostrophe's meaning is clear, and their drinks are delicious.
RSS Feed