doctor appointment or doctor´s appointment?

This question has been answered · 43 replies
Forums · General English Grammar & Vocabulary, Listening & Speaking · General English Vocabulary & Idiom Questions
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I have a question that I need help with...fast. (I am a non - native English speaker)

Is it possible to say " I have a doctor appointment" instead of using the form " I have a doctor´s appointment". The use of possessive s is a bit confusing. I hope that some one here could help me.

Thank you very much in advance,

regards,

Eric
Approved answer (verified by )
It should be doctor's.

I can see how the possessive could be confusing if you are only thinking about it from your side, but don't forget that the doctor also has an appointment at that time - with you.
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Approved answer (verified by )
Hmmm. The responses here surprised me because "I have a doctor appointment" does not sound "wrong" to me -- I would be just as likely to say "doctor apppointment" as "doctor's appointment". Does anyone else agree with me? Maybe it's a U.S./U.K. difference? Or am I just weird? [:^)]

How about "I have a dentist appointment"? I might either say it that way, or say "I have a dental appointment." Is anyone going to make a case for "I have a dentist's appointment"?
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Approved answer (verified by )
We do say 'dentist's appointment' this side of the Atlantic. Likewise 'vet's appointment'.

We say 'hospital appointment' without the s.
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ALL REPLIES
It is not possible to say "I have a doctor appointment". This is not correct English.
thanks for your priceless explanations
Junior Member73
In North America too, doctor's apppointment is the preferred one.

At The New York Times:

doctor's apppointment: 200 hits
doctor apppointment: 6 hits

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KhoffHmmm. The responses here surprised me because "I have a doctor appointment" does not sound "wrong" to me -- I would be just as likely to say "doctor apppointment" as "doctor's appointment". Does anyone else agree with me? Maybe it's a U.S./U.K. difference? Or am I just weird? [:^)]

How about "I have a dentist appointment"? I might either say it that way, or say "I have a dental appointment." Is anyone going to make a case for "I have a dentist's appointment"?

Doctor appointment to me does not sound right. I don't see a justifying reason why doctor takes possessive but dentist doesn't. Maybe that's just the way it is and has no exact reason. (which is why English is so hard to master) It kinda falls under those strange rules like a pair of pants, when it's only one piece of clothing. We don't say a pair of shirts.
New Member16
Hi,Hookster -welcome to the Forum. There was actually a long discussion a while ago about "a pair of pants" -- apparently pants actually used to be two separate pieces, kind of like cowboys' chaps, that tied together at the top. I understand why English is hard to master, but I thought I had done a pretty good job of it in 52 years, which is why I was surprised to find that something that seemed perfectly natural to me was consedered "wrong." Perhaps I should have added that I would probably not write "doctor appointment" in anything formal -- I agree that "doctor's appointment" sounds more formal - but in conversation "doctor appointment" sounds perfectly fine to me. (This would also explain why it shows up less often in The New York Times.)

Grammar Geek, would you like to venture an opinion on this one?

Hookster, what part of Colorado are you in? And, to digress a little, do you consider yourself a Coloradan? I am pretty sure that when I was growing up in Denver we were all Coloradoans -- then I spent 20 years on the East Coast and returned to find that I had lost an entire syllable.
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