Search results for 'tag:English grammar tag:Apostrophes' matching tags 'English grammar' and 'Apostrophes'

Re: whats wrong with this paragraph???

bernice.farrugia — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:43:31 GMT

(1) We only played one ... and it was four years ago. - You need to use the PAST SIMPLE here because you're talking about something which happened 4 years ago.

(2) ...between his wife and the girls' coach... - you need the apostrophe after 'girls' because it's a possessive

(3) ...he packed his and his wife's bags... - same thing 's for possessive

Bernice

Re: Possessive of singular noun that ends in S

Bokeh — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 21:31:15 GMT

Tanit wrote:
To make the possessive form of a SINGULAR noun that ends in -s, some style guides say to add just an apostrophe ('); others say you should add an apostrophe and s ('s). Some say that either way is correct.

I find older grammar books, for example "A Modern English Grammar" (Oxford Unifersity Press 1965, 21 Shillings), goes with "Dickens's novel" form whereas later grammar books say either is acceptable, which points towards a dumbing down of standards over the last 40 years.

Re: Possessive of singular noun that ends in S

Tanit — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 14:19:36 GMT

Anonymous wrote:

what's the rule in english grammar for forming the possessive of a singular noun that ends in s?

When I was in high school, I was taught to add only an apostrophe and not an "s". Only later did I discover that both forms are possible.

Read:

" To make the possessive form of a SINGULAR noun that ends in -s, some style guides say to add just an apostrophe ('); others say you should add an apostrophe and s ('s). Some say that either way is correct.
The best answer: when dealing with SINGULAR nouns, find out what the expectations are wherever you're writing and go by that. In most cases, you can just ask your teacher what he or she prefers. (...)
So, to give a couple of examples...
For "nucleus" (singular noun ending in -s), write is as:
nucleus' or nucleus's
depending on the rules where you're writing. "

on this page, second issue.

And, from the BBC website:

" However, if the singular noun ends in âsâ as in your example, Everson, you can either just add an apostrophe (â) or apostrophe 's' (âs):
- 'All of Dickensâ novels have now been adapted for television.'
- 'All of Dickensâs novels have now been adapted for television.'
Note that these spellings are pronounced differently. If you simply add an apostrophe, the pronunciation does not change, but if you add apostrophe 's' (âs), the possessive is pronounced /iz/.
With singular nouns ending in double 's' (...) I think it is more normal to add apostrophe 's' (âs) because the spelling with apostrophe s then indicates the pronunciation required:
- 'The bossâs secretary resigned.'
- 'The princessâs diamonds were worth two million pounds.' "

Re: correct words

Cool Breeze — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 15:53:16 GMT

CalifJim wrote:
So a sports car is wrong?

Being in a minority does not mean being wrong.

sports does seem to be a curious exception, and I'm sure there are others. Everyone is invited to add to the list of exceptions, if that sounds like fun!

sports bar, sports medicine

CJ

Hi Jim

I just read in an American magazine: United States Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, on the Democrats' decision to challenge President George W. Bush's troop-surge proposal for Iraq.

A plural is used of your country without an apostrophe (and I for one think it's correct English). My first thoughts were: Yes, of course, you can't change United States by dropping the plural s because the name of the country is not the United State. Then I thought a minute and realized the plural s is dropped from the Philippines: the Philippine President...

Even though English grammar is basicly very simple and easy, it's things like these that make mastering it very difficult. (But I'll keep on trying!)

Cheers
CB

Re: "question and answer" or "question-and-answer"

Cool Breeze — Sat, 16 Sep 2006 07:36:42 GMT

J Lewis: Thank you for the explanation of 'soccer'. I knew it had been coined from 'association', but didn't know it had been done by the British.

Words like 'clothesline' are in dictionaries, so it's understandable that the plural s is there. A United Nations assembly is not in dictionaries and since nations does not denote time or distance, the apostrophe can be omitted, in my opinion anyway.

Grammar Geek: According to all the grammar books I have seen, the s-genitive can be used to denote time and distance and thus expressions like a two hours' walk are correct English. It may not sound natural to some but is certainly used by distinguished, native writers. A two hours' walk is from Otto Jespersen's Essentials of English Grammar. Perhaps the grammarians dislike the idea of English being too restricted in usage and have included examples of usage that may not be very common in everyday conversation.

Cheers
CB

Re: Doubts about paper (I)

Clive — Sat, 03 Dec 2005 06:14:48 GMT

Hi Davkett,

Thank you for the interesting response. I've been thinking about it, and I have a few comments.

I'm not familar with the site you quoted, and I don't know its credentials. I don't agree with what it baldly says about Singular Nouns (ending with -s) .... eg James' room or Chris Jonesâ dog. I would put an 'apostrophe + s' in both cases.

However, I looked this point up in Swan's 'Practical English Usage' (Section 505.3 in my edition). He gives as examples Charles's wife but Socrates' last words. He doesn't discuss the matter.

I also looked it up in Thomson and Martinet's 'A Practical English Grammar' Section 14). They say classical names ending in s usually add only the apostrophe. Note the usually. They continue Other names ending in s can take 's or the apostrophe alone eg Mr. Jones's or Mr. Jones' house.

I also googled a bit on Sextus Empiricus. There are hits both ways, although perhaps fewer with the 's. However, the hits with 's include some sites and articles that look quite scholarly.

Finally, here's my personal opinion. None of these sources seem to discuss the reasons behind their 'rules'. I think it's because of the pronunciation. We say Socrateez and it sounds good, but it's harder to say Socrateezez and it doesn't sound good. For this reason, my feeling is that, for classical names that end in 'es', I'd omit the s in speech, but I'd be quite happy to leave it in a text that is not pronounced aloud, where it would look fine and sound is not an issue. Now, consider classical names that don't end in es. It seems fine to me to say the Cyclops's eye. It also seems fine to me to say Empiricusez, and it doesn't sound bad.

So, that's why my personal preference is to say Empiricus's . . .

Anyway, thanks again for raising such an interesting issue.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: Check my essay please

edwy — Sat, 16 Oct 2004 10:18:36 GMT

In my humble opinion, there is very little wrong with this essay, as far as the English grammar is concerned. I would want to correct "The stronger countries try to get hold of the weaker one's resources", probably rephrasing it as "Stronger countries try to grab the resources that belong to weaker countries". The mistake is "one's", as this denotes a single country, and I am sure that more than one country was intended. The correct possessive here is "ones' ", with the apostrophe at the end of the word.

When writing an essay, it is important to write in your own style, and this short piece is generally well written, in an engaging and lively style. If I had written it, it would have been very different, because I would have used a different style. That is not to say that I would have been right and you were wrong - we would both be right in our different ways.

I might, however, want to criticise some of the views expressed in the essay, such as that concerning China as the greatest threat to world peace (I reckon the United States is far more dangerous), but that is a question of politics, not English grammar!

Good luck,

Edwy

Re: Another question on it's

Paul Doherty — Mon, 15 Dec 2003 02:45:17 GMT

Well, I've just joined.

This is a bit strange. The possessive of it is without question its, no apostrophe. Mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs, no apostrophe in any of them. It's invariably means it is or it has, and there is no such word as its'. All basic English grammar.

And yet, someone says that

Actually, according to websters dictionary its and it's are the possive form of it.

Usage Note: Its is the possessive form of the pronoun it and is correctly written with or without an apostrophe. It should not be confused with the contraction it's (for it is or it has), which should always have an apostrophe.

Source: The American HeritageÂ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright Â© 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Which is weird, because that dictionary does not say that at all. It says "is correctly written without the apostrophe". See the original here. Why would someone go to the trouble to pretend to quote an authority to sustain a view which is quite incorrect?

And then a moderator says

I would say
'the audience gives it's'

which doesn't inspire confidence!

Sorry that my first post is rather critical.

Re: Plural surname

wumanfu — Thu, 02 Oct 2003 11:20:20 GMT

Hi, Bewsâ, Jamesâ Smithsââ¦
The Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar
possessive (n. & adj.) (A word or case) indicating possession or ownership.
The possessive case of nouns is also called the
GENITIVE
case, e.g. boy's, boys', Mary's, the Smiths'.

Pronouns in the possessive case are the series mine, yours, etc.; the corresponding determiners are my, your, etc. Some grammars include these determiners
under the label possessive pronouns; more traditional ones classify them as possessive adjectives.

The basic meaning of the verb have is sometimes described as possessive (e.g. We have a house) in contrast to its other meanings, especially the dynamic
ones such as have a bath, have dinner, have an operation, have a holiday, have fun.

Compare
APOSTROPHE.