If it appears after the s, then it will most likely be plural, i. For proper names, you add the apostrophes to the end. Naturally, her writer friends told her to ditch the apostrophe, which she did. Apostrophe books is a new epublishing company that combines the high standards of old media with the cuttingedge technology of new media. The big question with these is where to put the apostrophe. To show possession with a singular noun, add an apostrophe plus the letter s. However, it is also correct to just add the apostrophe. So whether you write charles or charles s the s after the apostrophe is always said, even when it isnt written. She wants to know why boss s has an apostrophe and an s but chris has only an apostrophe the truth is that chris takes just an apostrophe only if you follow the rules in the the associated press stylebook. England has the girls schools association and the usa the national coalition of girls schools. Apostrophes can be used in time expressions also called temporal expressions like a day s pay and two weeks notice. Apostrophes with names ending in s, ch, or z are you confused about how to show the plural and the possessive of certain names.
Possession johns car, a friend of mine english grammar. The grammar guru thinks the sixties were a decade of great fashion. If the word family comes after the family surname, the family name should remain singular. Feb 27, 2015 everything you need to know about this little mark.
If the noun is plural, the apostrophe usually goes after the s. The plurals for capital letters and numbers used as. Want to know when to use the apostrophe and when to skip it. Thus, if i wanted my last name to show possession it would need to say. If there are multiple nouns that refer to more personsthings add s to both nouns. It s arbitrary, and especially in the case of apostrophes, chaotic. And, to be precise, the rule of adding s after a word ending in s, e. For example, the aardvarks pencil, where there is an apostrophes at the end of aardvark.
The apostrophe with numbers, letters, and abbreviations. The english apostrophe s and s apostrophe cause a lot of problems, even for native speakers. Language, grammar and spelling are not necessarily consistent but often based on convention. So, just as i would describe something belonging to jack as jack s, i would describe something belonging to james as james s. One can not see a possessive apostrophe in the spoken word, which can lead to a lot of confusion if the second s isnt spoken.
Buy our book smashing grammar 2019 written by the founder of grammar monster, smashing grammar includes a glossary of grammar essentials from apostrophes to zeugma and a chapter on easily confused words from affecteffect to whetherif. The eggleses are a husband and wife consultant team. The apostrophe indicates that one bicycle belongs to one girl. You use an apostrophe plus an s on the end of squiggly. Forming possessives of words ending in s or an s sound by karen yin 9 comments im going to focus on the difference between how the associated press stylebook and the chicago manual of style handle possessives for words ending in s or an s sound. She is an inductee in the podcasting hall of fame, and the show is a fivetime winner of best education podcast in the.
It shows a relationship of belonging between one thing and another. An important point is that if you use an apostrophe, make sure you put it after the final s. A new victorias secret ad abuses an apostrophe, but unfortunately, its a common error. Well, if i want to show possession, on a word that ends in s, i add apostrophe s. If you call it a homeowners association or a teacher s strike with the apostrophe before the s, youre talking about an association of one homeowner or a strike by one teacher. To show the plural of a name that ends in s, ch, or z, add es. The normal rule when forming a possessive with a noun is to add an apostrophe and s. Learn whether to use one apostrophe or two when two people own. Posted on march 16, 2008 by writer s relief staff 28.
Sam and mary johnson live in a large house with their two daughters rachel and jenna johnson. If the word does not already have an s, it needs the apostrophe followed by s. We use apostrophes to write about oprahs new recommendation, j. Every other week, the grammar guru will share writing tips to help make your work as polished as possible. Heres the scoop on when to use apostrophes to make. Paula, an executive assistant, wrote to ask me to continue the discussion of apostrophes. First, a plural noun which already ends in s takes only a following apostrophe. Nov 01, 2006 our post apostrophes with names ending in s, ch, or z says, to show singular possession of a name ending in s or z, some writers add just an apostrophe. Edward and madeleine s books the books belong to both edward and madeleine one exception to this rule occurs if one of the owners is identified by a pronoun. Learn how to make plural words possessive, how to make words that end in s plural, and what to do about abbreviations. Just because it ends in an s, doesnt mean it should be treated like a plural, imo.
Apostrophes have a complicated relationship with plurals. Compound possession grammar girl quick and dirty tips. A phenomenon named grammar girl outlines 9 ways to use an apostrophe but. When a plural noun ends in s, place an apostrophe after the s to show possession. Here s the scoop on when to use apostrophes to make things plural. Heres the scoop on when to use apostrophes to make things plural. Maybe you know to write i met the smiths, i drove brenda smith s ferrari, and i visited the smiths house. Girls, girls or girls apostrophes and girls investigator magazine. One major new use for the apostrophe was to indicate possession. The plurals for capital letters and numbers used as nouns are not formed with apostrophes. Learn some common mistakes with apostrophes and how to properly use them.
Each entry starts with a simple explanation and basic examples before moving to reallife, entertaining examples. If you search for signs with grammar errors online, most of the results. Its the moment all the punctuation marks have been eagerly awaiting. To show plural possession, make the noun plural first. Therefore, the members of the jones family are the joneses.
Dec 04, 2015 at last, a book that tells you exactly where to stick your apostrophe david marsh simon griffins irreverent pocketsized guide to a tricky piece of punctuation is the perfect stocking filler. See rules 1b and 1c of apostrophes for more discussion. Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing. In that case, youd use a singular apostrophe after the letter s, such as in the williams house withstood texas inclement weather. If the noun is plural, or already ends in s, just add an apostrophe after the s.
For example, in when colin writes a s, they look like u s, the apostrophes prevent us from thinking that the writer meant as and us. The possessive form is used with nouns referring to people, groups of people, countries, and animals. This lessons task is to help you learn about possessives and contractions that need apostrophes and plurals that dont. My last name is karsies and i am a 4th grade teacher who is a grammar fanatic. If there are multiple nouns that refer to one personthing add s to the last noun. Although it is not considered to be good english, you may add only the apostrophe words ending on unpronounced s.
Some editors or instructors may require no additional s when the proper noun already ends in an s, such as jones or texas. We only have an apostrophe after the s in dogs because dogs is a plural noun ending in s. The blue book of grammar and punctuation by jane straus the. Jul 24, 2019 note also how an example from section no. Learn some common mistakes with apostrophes and how to properly use.
Many common nouns end in the letter s lens, cactus, bus, etc. Apostrophes and plurals grammar girl quick and dirty tips. Are you confused about how to show the plural and the possessive of certain names. Sometimes, its called the grocers apostrophe because of how frequently it is spotted in grocery store advertisements 3 oranges for a dollar. She is an inductee in the podcasting hall of fame, and the show is a fivetime winner of best education podcast in the podcast awards. An apostrophe is used after the s when more than one person or thing.
Grammar and punctuation the blue book of grammar and. Our post apostrophes with names ending in s, ch, or z says, to show singular possession of a name ending in s or z, some writers add just an apostrophe. Many publishers, for example, demand an apostrophe only following an s ending word, so woud prescribe doris. If the plural form of the noun does not end in s, the apostrophe goes before the s.
Learn whether it s teachers strike or teachers strike, writers strike or writers strike, and homeowners association or homeowners association. Dec 29, 2016 get grammar girl s take on apostrophes. Mar 16, 2008 wondering when a noun should use s, s, s, or es to show possession. This makes the sentence easier to read and less confusing. Various situations in possessives grammar call for a few seemingly tricky rules. Just remember that all possessives need an apostrophe and an s at the end. The history of the apostrophe grammar girl quick and dirty tips. But what if the name is sanchez or church or williams rule. But the family name shouldnt be plural when speaking of the family unit. Lets not forget that grandma lets the kids eat way too much junk food when they stay with her.
Examples include one with a singular noun ending in s venuss beauty. Mekita rivas, snr communications and project associate, publishes a biweekly feature called grammar guru. In this interview about his book bad english, ammon shea explains the. The girl is the singular subject and the bicycle is the singular object. The simplest and most likely solution is to omit all apostrophes which dont convey any information, or questions like this wouldnt be asked and rely on syntax to distinguish the girls teams, and the boys teams, from the girls and boys team. If there are multiple nouns, add s only to the last noun.
Google search commonly, but not always, gives girls schools, apostrophe after the s. An apostrophe and the letter s are used to show possession. As far as we can tell, an apostrophe plus the letter s has generally been used to mark the possessive case of singular nouns since at least the 1700s. Take a journey into the world of the rules of the apostrophe and tell us what you think. It s hard to imagine any credible writer not using apostrophes for a s and u s, but beyond that, apostrophe unanimity is hard to find. For example, you could write, fortunately, the childrens room had a hidden doorway, with childrens written as children apostrophes. It is important to put the apostrophe in the correct place, either before the s or after the s, depending on whether the subject is singular or plural. The girl s version of the title, with the apostrophe before the s, is wrong because that would refer to just one girl whereas the werewolf went after multiple girls. At last, a book that tells you exactly where to stick your. Apostrophes the blue book of grammar and punctuation. For other nouns, youd put just an apostrophe at the end, so if you had a bunch of cats and they had beds, you say that those are the cats beds, or if your parents shared a car, you would say it is your parents car. This lesson s task is to help you learn about possessives and contractions that need apostrophes and plurals that dont. Where do you put the apostrophe after names that end in s.
To show the plural of a name that ends with a ch, s, or z sound, add es. If the apostrophe appears before the letter s then it may denote that the possessive case is singular, i. Aug 10, 20 a new victoria s secret ad abuses an apostrophe, but unfortunately, it s a common error. Apostrophe rules can be broken into four main categories. The book, common sense or more specifically the authorship of the book, belongs equally to lederer and shore, so only the second name, shore, takes the apostrophe and s. This entry originally appeared on clare lynch s blog, goodcopybadcopy this addendum to my previous blog entry on apostrophes is dedicated to the graphic designer friend of mine who recently posted a cry for help on facebook, asking which was correct. Mignot fogarty, better known as grammar girl provides the public with an accessible reference on punctuation. If the word ending with s is plural, add an apostrophe at the end to make it possessive. Books that have been in print before are given a digital future, alongside new titles from some of the world s best writers. Dec 08, 2011 but in recent years i have noticed another s being added after the apostrophe. Using an unnecessary apostrophe to form the plural of a noun is a very common mistake. In a sentence such as the teacher preferred the girl s work to the. Some writers and editors add only an apostrophe to all nouns ending in s.
Sometimes to indicate the structure of unusual words. Jerrys shows were canceled, putting an apostrophes after both tom and jerry. The normal rule when forming a plural noun is to add an s to the end. Mar 01, 2016 apostrophes and possessive nouns, part 2. Double possessives grammar girl quick and dirty tips. Apostrophes with words ending in s grammar and punctuation. I would use james s, as james is a name, just like jack. Posters for the movie have a third variation, girls, the apostrophe after the s. However, allgirls school s mostly appears without an apostrophe. If the word already has an s, it only needs an apostrophe. For plural, proper nouns that are possessive, use an apostrophe after the s.
In other style guides, chris takes an apostrophe and an s. Apostrophes with names ending in s, ch, or z grammar and. Possessive s grammar quiz james jameses truck broke down on the side of the road and he needs a lift. Words such as kansas that end with an s can be stumpers when it comes to apostrophes. Plural words that dont end with s, such as children, do take an apostrophes at the end for possession. Dogs bones, with only an apostrophe after the s, means the bones of the dogs dogs plural.
With plural nouns not ending in s, add an apostrophe and s. Should newcastle united s stadium be st james park or st james s park. We use apostrophes to show possession, form contractions, and make odd plurals. Family names ending in s become plural by adding es on the end, after the s. However, if the name or word itself ends in s for example, dress or ozymandias, then you find yourself in muddier waters. However checking apostrophe grammar using our free online apostrophe checker is faster and less likely to overlook any usage mistakes. English apostrophe rules are not difficult to master. Add an apostrophe then the s just as if it were a singular noun like this. With very few exceptions, apostrophes do not make nouns plural. Apostrophe english grammar today cambridge dictionary.
Sometimes, it s called the grocer s apostrophe because of how frequently it is spotted in grocery store advertisements 3 orange s for a dollar. The adelaide phone book has a list headed schoolsgirls. Punctuation is not grammar and doesnt follow grammatical rules. Most genitives are formed with s the term genitive includes a larger range of relationships than possessiveownership my dog, temporary possession his cookie, a natural trait his tail, a family relationship his mom, origin his city, performer of an action his arrival, and more. Although the apostrophe is not used in writing plurals, it is used in writing the plurals of letters and other forms which would be difficult to read without the apostrophe. Until now, i always assumed that a singular noun ending in s needed an apostrophe then an s to show possession. Making an irregular plural noun possessive when it does not end in s is very simple. So let s talk about the three basic rules here, you use apostrophes first and probably most often to form possessive noun, so if ive got the noun sarah im going to add an s. Apostrophe english grammar today a reference to written and spoken english grammar and usage cambridge dictionary. So let s talk about apostrophes, now apostrophes are one of the simplest punctuation marks but i think one of the trickiest to use. Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for. Doris s, is really a matter of style, not a rule of grammar or orthography.
Use an apostrophe after the s at the end of a plural noun to show possession. On the playground, jake stole the girl s jump rope. This is covered obliquely in the possessives and sibilants post, but it s worth addressing directly for greater clarity. A 1772 edition of joseph priestleys the rudiments of english grammar, for example, says the possessive is formed by adding s with an apostrophe before it to a singular noun. Apostrophes are one of the more confounding punctuation marks. Aug 12, 2019 get grammar girls take on apostrophe catastrophe.
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