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

Re: Memos show Clinton Turmoil Part 1

Feebs11 — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:47:13 GMT

Question: I would have written ''Clinton's turmoil''. Why didn't the author use apostrophe? It is a headline - they do not use standard grammar.

Question: Why is semicolon used instead of comma to separate the email addresses above? Addresses are better separated by semicolons - it establishes that they are different.

Question: Clinton didn't embrace Penn's approach because she did not consider it seriously. Therefore, what campaign aides were saying is redundant. They are the people to whom the journalists talked in order to find out what is happening.

Re: Proper Use of Apostrophes (Dos and Don'ts about Do's and Don't's)

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 05:12:28 GMT

Evening!

I'm an author and dislike the everchanging rules of grammar as much as anyone else does. Grammar was invented to facilitate communication, especially written communication when voice inflection cannot be heard. However, I write serious novels, as opposed to trashy stories, and my readers don't care about grammar rules (for the most part) when abiding by them makes reading difficult or awkward. The last thing I want to do in the middle of an engaging paragraph is jolt my readers from the mood I've (hopefully) lured them into just to satisfy some arbitrary grammar rule.

I wouldn't consider writing do's and don't's or dos and don'ts. I write do's and don'ts and that's that, so to speak. I've never had a single complaint about my use of grammar, let alone a book returned yet. I have, on the other hand, had requests to refrain
from using 'Words I have to look up,' such as jejune, abstruse, evanescent, recondite, and so on. I guess education ain't what it used to be, LOL! Consistency is mandatory in whatever one chooses to write and that's tough when one is writing a seven-novel saga!

Blessings to you all - J.

Re: Proper Use of Apostrophes (Dos and Don'ts about Do's and Don't's)

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 02:32:00 GMT

According to the Gregg Reference Manual: "To form the possessive of a singular noun that ends in an s sound, be guided by the way you pronounce the word. If a new syllable is formed in the pronunciation of the possessive, add an apostrophe plus s."

Ex: your boss's approval (you pronounce it as bosses); therefore, add the apostrophe.

Also according to the Gregg Reference Manual: "However, if the addition of the extra syllable would make a word ending in s hard to pronounce, use the apostrophe only."

Ex: Los Angeles' freeways (try saying Los Angeleses). Difficult to do; therefore, just use the apostrophe.

Best grammar books are The Gregg Reference Manual and the Simon & Schuster Handbook for Writers.

I have no problem with boss' approval. At least this is a rule where one can understand why people get it wrong. There are grammar errors that bother me more; I cannot understand why people misuse apostrophes.

the possessive of 'her'

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:35:48 GMT

Hello,

In the sentence, "It had been Thomas's and her's secret hiding place when they were children." Is the apostrophe after 'her' correct? It seems that it should be, but my MS Word Grammar check does not recognize it. Thank you for your great service.

Re: "4 week notice period" or "4 weeks notice period"

Anonymous — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 17:12:39 GMT

Erm..... this "grammar geek" objects to your misplaced apostrophe. Four weeks' notice - with the apostrophe after the 's'. Thanks.

Re: we wait until the last moment before boarding

optilang — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:06:58 GMT

If you do a search on google you will find it with and without the apostrophe. A grammar expert (which I'm not) will tell us if it is required. I must admit, I don't think that before today I'd ever written the phrase, but have said it many many times - in fact I'm still waiting for my few minutes' peace!

Re: Help with apostrophe's

Feebs11 — Sun, 18 May 2008 22:50:01 GMT

See here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/g_apost.html

Re: Apostrophe Grammar Question

Takoyaki-English — Sat, 03 May 2008 09:28:03 GMT

Hello.

Neither of them would be correct.
I would write:
"The author fully develops the character of Kate Miller, the protagonist."

Apostrophe Grammar Question

Anonymous — Sat, 03 May 2008 09:08:37 GMT

I had a question about apostrophes in conjunction with nonrestrictive modifying elements. I am writing an essay and would like to know if you need to put an apostrophe twice, as in:

"The author fully develops Kate Miller's, the protagonist's, character." -or- is it "The author fully develops Kate Miller's, the protagonist, character"? I would like to think the first choice with 2 apostrophes is correct.

Could someone help me with this?

Thanks

Re: Plural of s = s'es?

Pter — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 03:52:02 GMT

Sorry Yoong Liat, I think I didn't made it clear. The abbreviation of PS was made up arbitrarily. I didn't mean postscript. I could have used anything like BS, CS, DS, etc. in my question.

Regarding the apostrophe for abbreviations, let me quote some of the references I've read:

The Columbia Guide to Standard American English
http://www.bartleby.com/68/50/4650.html

usually add -s: two Xs, Ph.D.s, MIAs, 1990s, the â20s. Use an apostrophe only when you need it to prevent confusion: Mississippi has four iâs. He got Aâs in both courses.

The Economist Style Guide
http://www.economist.com/research/styleGuide/index.cfm?page=673905

Thus IOUs, MPs' salaries, SDRs, etc.

Times Online Style Guide
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tools_and_services/specials/style_guide/article986718.ece

An apostrophe should be used to indicate the plural of single letters - p's and q's.
(Note that it doesn't say an apostrophe should be used for plurals of abbreviations.)

Guide to Grammar and Style by Jack Lynch
http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Writing/a.html

Apostrophes are sometimes used to make acronyms or other abbreviations plural (another matter of a local house style). My preference: don't use apostrophes to make abbreviations plural â not "They took their SAT's," but "They took their SATs." The only exception is when having no apostrophe might be confusing: "Two As" is ambiguous (it might be read as the word as); make it "Two A's."

Back to my original question. What I would like to ask is whether I should use "s" or "es", i.e. the choice of

1a. There are two s'es in the sentence.
1b. There are two PSes in the meeting.

OR

2a. There are two s's in the sentence.
2b. There are two PSs in the meeting.

In addition, how should they be pronounced?

PS I have never seen P.SS. or p.ss. My copy of Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary does not have such an entry nor does any other dictionary I checked.