Please learn to use apostrophes

[Anonymous]

I can't stand it when people confuse to, too, and two. The incorrect usage of your and you're and their, there, and they're is also a big pet peeve of mine!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay OP, answer me this. I've been wondering recently. If a word ends in an S but is singular, I believe to show possession one should use the apostrophe s:

Douglas's book

However if a word ends in an S because it is plural, then only an apostrophe follows:

the girls' books

Is that right? TIA to you grammar queens out there!

You are correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused in this matter too... When do we use comma?

We use a comma both before and after the word "like".

I was, like, that is too awesome!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm confused in this matter too... When do we use comma?

We use a comma both before and after the word "like".

I was, like, that is too awesome!

Totes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay OP, answer me this. I've been wondering recently. If a word ends in an S but is singular, I believe to show possession one should use the apostrophe s:

Douglas's book

However if a word ends in an S because it is plural, then only an apostrophe follows:

the girls' books

Is that right? TIA to you grammar queens out there!

You are correct.

There are a few annoying exceptions, unfortunately. The basic set is historical figures with names like Jesus and Moses. It is Jesus' teachings, not Jesus's teachings and Moses' deeds, not Moses's deeds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
There are a few annoying exceptions, unfortunately. The basic set is historical figures with names like Jesus and Moses. It is Jesus' teachings, not Jesus's teachings and Moses' deeds, not Moses's deeds.

Actually, that's not quite the reason for the exception.

If a proper noun ends in s, then the correct way to make it possessive is to add 's at the end.

Gus -- Gus's book
Wes -- Wes's steak
James -- James's bike

However, if the pronunciation of the word + 's is "very awkward", you can leave off the final s and just add the apostrophe.

The tricky part is determining what sounds awkward and what sounds OK. Different style manuals draw the line at different places.

Clearly one syllable names (Gus and Wes) do not sound awkward as possessives. (Gus's, Wes's)

Two syllable names with only one, word final -s sound OK in the possessive form. (Janis -- Janis's bike; DIckens -- Dickens's novels)

Two syllable words with TWO S or SH or Z sounds -- they start to sound a little awkward. Sometimes the word final s is omitted.

Moses -- Moses's laws sounds a bit awkward. Some people write and say Moses' law.
Jesus -- Jesus's mother. Some people prefer Jesus' mother.

Three syllable words really sound awkward.

Pericles -- Pericles's plays sounds awkward. It is usually written Pericles' plays.
Hercules' tasks

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay OP, answer me this. I've been wondering recently. If a word ends in an S but is singular, I believe to show possession one should use the apostrophe s:

Douglas's book

However if a word ends in an S because it is plural, then only an apostrophe follows:

the girls' books

Is that right? TIA to you grammar queens out there!

You are correct.

Holy crap. Are you really the OP who started lecturing strangers about apostrophes? Because you are WRONG, depending on which style manual you follow. The majority of written materials read every day follow AP (Associated Press) Style. And her is the rule:

The AP recommends that possessives of proper names ending in "s" be formed by adding an apostrophe only (no extra "s"). Thus, in AP style, the possessive of Jones is Jones'.

If you follow Chicago, you add the s. But really, most people follow AP - like every newspaper, magazine, website in this country.

I really hope that you are not OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Okay OP, answer me this. I've been wondering recently. If a word ends in an S but is singular, I believe to show possession one should use the apostrophe s:

Douglas's book

However if a word ends in an S because it is plural, then only an apostrophe follows:

the girls' books

Is that right? TIA to you grammar queens out there!

Yes, this is right.

[Anonymous]

Use of the apostrophe to indicate possession

The use of the possessive apostrophe has become boggy. There was a time when every publication and editor worth his or her salt designated possession (for singular words) with an apostrophe followed by an s, regardless of whether or not the noun ended with a sibilant such as s or x. Now there is a rift, as some publications (and the Associated Press) have decided, in an effort to keep their copy "clean," to drop the possesive s when following a sibilant.

A few points:

The Washington Post retains the s.
The New York Times is inconsistent, sometimes retaining the s and sometimes dropping it.
AP Style is to drop the s.
Chicago Style is to retain the s.
We choose to retain the s.
Examples of usage:

Dickens's novels
Laos's health care infrastructure
Congress's resolution
Bill Gates's funding
The Red Sox's only home run
Anthrax's threat
Gerard Manley Hopkins's poetry

Look at France, where the controls at Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport are just as invasive as those at Reagan National Airport. [Washington Post]

Operating in Starbucks's very large shadow, Peet's is one of several small coffee retailers that are expanding from strong regional bases. [New York Times]

http://www.jhsph.edu/publichealthnews/style_manual/a.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay OP, answer me this. I've been wondering recently. If a word ends in an S but is singular, I believe to show possession one should use the apostrophe s:

Douglas's book

However if a word ends in an S because it is plural, then only an apostrophe follows:

the girls' books

Is that right? TIA to you grammar queens out there!

Yes, this is right.

NO, it's not, according to AP Style.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay OP, answer me this. I've been wondering recently. If a word ends in an S but is singular, I believe to show possession one should use the apostrophe s:

Douglas's book

However if a word ends in an S because it is plural, then only an apostrophe follows:

the girls' books

Is that right? TIA to you grammar queens out there!

You are correct.

Holy crap. Are you really the OP who started lecturing strangers about apostrophes? Because you are WRONG, depending on which style manual you follow. The majority of written materials read every day follow AP (Associated Press) Style. And her is the rule:

The AP recommends that possessives of proper names ending in "s" be formed by adding an apostrophe only (no extra "s"). Thus, in AP style, the possessive of Jones is Jones'.

If you follow Chicago, you add the s. But really, most people follow AP - like every newspaper, magazine, website in this country.

I really hope that you are not OP.

That's an absurd comment. By your own logic, the poster is also RIGHT, depending on which style manual she follows. And style is not a popularity contest. If it is, then anything goes, because it is the public, not pulishers, that would make the rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Okay OP, answer me this. I've been wondering recently. If a word ends in an S but is singular, I believe to show possession one should use the apostrophe s:

Douglas's book

However if a word ends in an S because it is plural, then only an apostrophe follows:

the girls' books

Is that right? TIA to you grammar queens out there!

You are correct.

Holy crap. Are you really the OP who started lecturing strangers about apostrophes? Because you are WRONG, depending on which style manual you follow. The majority of written materials read every day follow AP (Associated Press) Style. And her is the rule:

The AP recommends that possessives of proper names ending in "s" be formed by adding an apostrophe only (no extra "s"). Thus, in AP style, the possessive of Jones is Jones'.

If you follow Chicago, you add the s. But really, most people follow AP - like every newspaper, magazine, website in this country.

I really hope that you are not OP.

That's an absurd comment. By your own logic, the poster is also RIGHT, depending on which style manual she follows. And style is not a popularity contest. If it is, then anything goes, because it is the public, not pulishers, that would make the rules.

No, she's not correct. And what the hell is a pulisher?

[Anonymous]

The Texas Law Review style manual follows the Chicago rule, not the AP. I believe there are other style sources for legal publications that also follow the Chicago rule. So who wins? The lawyers or the print media?