EyeSeeYou  +  340608 Sun, 18 Mar 07 06:36 PM VHS or VHS' ?  DVD's or DVDs?  Should there be used the ( 's ) for the plural of those nouns? I don't think so, since you don't say lion's but lions, or cats, not cat's, but it's just that I have seen it used in many publications or articles, hence my question... EyeSeeYou Joined on Tue, Dec 21 2004 Full Member 212 Nouns, Articles, Plurals

	Grammar Geek  +  340611 Sun, 18 Mar 07 06:45 PM Yes, many people think that when you have a noun that is made up of only initials, like CD, you need an apostrophe to make it plural. You don't. CDs. DVDs. As for VHS, isn't that a format, not a noun? VHS tapes. Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,667 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random! Nouns, Plurals, Apostrophes

	Philip  +  340652 Sun, 18 Mar 07 09:33 PM  Grammar Geek wrote: Yes, many people think that when you have a noun that is made up of only initials, like CD, you need an apostrophe to make it plural. You don't. CDs. DVDs. As for VHS, isn't that a format, not a noun? VHS tapes. Practically history by now. Philip Joined on Thu, Jun 23 2005 Veteran Member 8,738 At reise er at leve! - H. C. Andersen Nouns, Grammar, Plurals, Apostrophes

	EyeSeeYou  +  341077 Tue, 20 Mar 07 12:05 AM  Grammar Geek wrote: Yes, many people think that when you have a noun that is made up of only initials, like CD, you need an apostrophe to make it plural. You don't. CDs. DVDs. As for VHS, isn't that a format, not a noun? VHS tapes. Yes, you're right about VHS. So the same should apply to 80s, 90s (instead of 80's, 90's), right? EyeSeeYou Nouns, Grammar, Plurals, Apostrophes

	Grammar Geek  +  341086 Tue, 20 Mar 07 12:35 AM Absolutely. The 1990s, but the '90s. (Because the ' is used to show the missing numbers: 19) Grammar Geek

	Grammar Geek  +  346388 Mon, 02 Apr 07 05:47 PM Yes, but I would spell that one out: In his thirties. Grammar Geek

	ccrellin  +  952449 Sun, 25 Oct 09 12:07 PM Hi All, I think that the reason people get this wrong (i.e. "cd's") is because they think in terms of abbreviation just as "phone" should really be written " 'phone" to indicate the missing "tele". There are letters missing when "compact discs" becomes "cds" and so they believe they are indicating the missing letters with the apostrophe ("isc"). However, if that were the case we would need to write c'd's as "ompact" is missing also!  Alternatively, should we not be using stops and writing "c.d.s" to indicate that this is an abbreviation?   Another one that always confuses me is "its" as in "it doubled its capacity to seat 20,000". Normally with nouns we indicate belonging with an apostrophe, for example "the table's legs" or "Claire's computer" but for "it" we do not do this...even though capacity is belonging to "it" (non-specified noun) in my example. I tried finding the answer in "Eats shoots and leaves" but I think that book if for people who already know how to use grammar! ccrellin Joined on Sun, Oct 25 2009 New Member 01 Bienvenue dans le monde Nouns, Spelling, Punctuation, Abbreviations, Apostrophes

	Grammar Geek  +  952529 Sun, 25 Oct 09 02:07 PM Hi ccrellin, and welcome to English Forums, ccrellin “Another one that always confuses me is "its" as in "it doubled its capacity to seat 20,000". Normally with nouns we indicate belonging with an apostrophe, for example "the table's legs" or "Claire's computer" but for "it" we do not do this...even though capacity is belonging to "it" (non-specified noun) in my example.” Think of "its" (belonging to it) the same way you do "his" or "hers." It belongs to her. It's hers. It belongs to him. It's his. It belongs to it. It's its. (No, you would never actually say it that way, but to show you the comparison.) Grammar Geek Nouns, Punctuation, Apostrophes