Search results for 'tag:Apostrophes tag:Contractions' matching tags 'Apostrophes' and 'Contractions'

Re: Now that the sun was setting in a welter of crimson behind tin lulls

nands_krish — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 13:27:33 GMT

In reference to your question on the meaning of 'lmighty -- It means Almighty where the letter "a" is replaced with the apostrophe between the words God and 'lmighty. The apostrophe is used to show the contractions that are made in colloquial speech. Another example I came across is "That cute li'l ol' apostrophe" where li'l = little and ol' = old.

apostrophe's used with proper nouns

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 02:44:28 GMT

I have a question about the use of contractions with a proper name. For example, if I wanted to say/write "Jeff is funny" could I also write/say it as "Jeff's funny" with the use of an apostrophe? If no, what is the rule that defines the use of this?

Thanks in advance! Jamie

Re: Help with apostrophe's

nona the brit — Mon, 19 May 2008 06:27:15 GMT

Rule One: Don't ever use apostrophes when you are making a plural. Apostrophe's in your title is incorrect.

Rule Two: Use apostrophes when you are making a possessive. Sometimes it goes before the s and sometimes after the s. You need to learn the rule and if you search this site you'll find plenty of help.

Rule Three: Use apostophes in contractions, such as in the word 'you'll' in my sentence above. You put the apostrophe in the place of the missing letters.

Re: Plurals of abbreviations - 1990's or 1990s

Anonymous — Fri, 02 May 2008 22:33:21 GMT

I think the p's and q's argument is most salient here. The apostrophe is used for the sake of clarity. While conventionally used for the possessive, the apostrophe is also used to indicate vernacular omissions and contractions, such as in the cases of "Ol' Dirty ***" or "N'awlins." This understadning of the usage of apostrophes is important for thinking about the 1990s/1990's problem. If you were to spell out the actual words 1990 and 1990s/1990's, you get the words "nineteen ninety" and "nineteen nineties." The difference between these two words is a "y" and an "ies." The possessive spelling of 1990's would be "nineteen ninety's," the plural, "nineteen nineties." The abbreviated representation of the possessive should clearly be 1990's, but what about the plural? One could argue that the apostrophe in this case stands for the omission of the "ie" in "nineteen nineties"

Please Check My Answers

Blondie024 — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 20:08:36 GMT

1. The possessive of a plural noun ending in s is formed by adding:

A. another s and an apostrophe. B. another s only. C. an apostrophe only. D. none of the above

I think the answer is C.

2. Which of the following shows the correct possessive form of a plural noun?

A. three dogs bowls B. three dog's bowls C. three dogs' bowls D. none of the above

I think the answer is C.

3. In a contraction, the apostrophe replaces:

A. missing letters. B. using an s. C. a unit of measurement. D. none of the above.

I think the answer is A.

4. Which of the following is a correct contraction of "they would"?

A. they'ld B. they'd C. they'wld D. none of the above

I think the answer is D.

5. Which of the following shows the correct possessive form of "children"?

A. childrens B. childrens' C. childrens's D. children's

I think the answer is A.

6. A preposition connects a (n):

A. subject and verb. B. object and modifiers. C. subject and predicate. D. adjective and adverb.

Re: Apostrophe or not?

ytsirk — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 14:41:02 GMT

Well, let's discuss what apostrophes are for:

Showing possession (That is Samantha's pencil.)

Showing that letters are missing...used in a contraction (can't, don't, won't)

PCs is therefore correct. You just add an "s" to show plurality. Adding an apostrophe there is wrong unless something belongs to that PC. (Is it the PC's mouse...yeah, that's awkward and I'd probably never say that, but I can't think of a good example.)

Okay, yes, there are missing letters (ersonal and omputer), but you're not going to write P''C''s, so why write PC's? The missing letters thing is really only for contractions as shown above.

Re: Question about apostrophe usage with possesive pronouns

Anonymous — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 16:28:01 GMT

"the answer is that you can't. Can you think of an example where you might?"

The only time you would write an apostrophe with a possessive pronoun would be to indicate the contraction 's for is:

That's not my jacket. Mine's over there.

JJM

Re: look forward to (be/being) ?

Avangi — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 00:44:08 GMT

Njjames wrote:
Hi all, its me again, I decided to sign up a screen name

Thank you guys very much for your helpful information.
Avangi, Thanks very much for correcting me. I corrected my signature in my profile, but I have a question regarding "help me to improve", is it also right to say "help me improve my English" ? I hear people at TV say it like this, but I'm not sure if they really are not saying "to" or if its just me who is not hearing the word "to"? Also, did I phrase my previous question correctly as native English (American or British) speakers would do ?

Thanks again for your helpful posts.
Regards,

Hi Njj,

I was kicking myself for sticking the "to" in there (to improve.) We used to say, "the 'to' is understood." When I look at something I've written a day before, I find [that] it reads much better if I take out all the junk (such as the "that" I just put in brackets.)

Re the "previous question," it sounds great to my ear, but I don't believe it's a question. Nix the question mark. "Its" wants an apostrophe. (The contraction takes one; the posessive pronoun doesn't .)

Regards, - A.

Edit. We say, "people on TV."

Re: 1: He is in his 40s. 2: He is in his 40's.

Hyena — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 11:49:07 GMT

from what i remember - he is in his 40's is correct because it is a contraction. all words that are adjusted for slang have an apostrophe. for example: 'cuz, ain't, o'clock

Re: Contractions again (I am sorry)

CalifJim — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 05:46:50 GMT

I agree that it's useless to add apostrophe-s to indicate is when the word ends in a sibilant (i.e., would take -es to form a plural). In these cases the apostrophe-s looks very strange, and nothing is gained where pronunciation is concerned. But in all other cases (regardless of whether they end in a voiced or unvoiced sound), the apostrophe-s for is is fine. (Go figure!)

*My watch's slow.
My watch is slow.
Dinner's ready.
Mike's here.

My observation is that learners find these nearly impossible to incorporate in their own conversations. Any comments on that?

CJ