Start eroding the rules by dropping one part because you find it a bit hard and the logical conclusion is to drop all the rules because there are always going to be people who find the remaining parts difficult. This book brings together everything you need to know for the SAT math section. Unlike most other test prep books, this one is truly geared towards the student aiming for the perfect score. It leaves no stones unturned. -- One person is Susan Smith. If you quote this article, you must link back to this page. You will improve your English in only 5 minutes per day, guaranteed! This standard work on punctuation has long been judged the foremost study of the subject. It reveals punctuation to be both an indispensable craft and an invaluable art - a friend, not an enemy. The plural of Smith is Smiths. I don’t think “Adamses” is all that awkward, but can see the opposite view as valid. Officially, there are binary prefixes: “Ki”, “Mi”, “Gi”, etc. 8 bits was very limiting in the size of data it could work with, so a new generation of processors doubled the capability to 16 bits., allowing it to work with (loosely) 256 times as much data as before. What gripes me (surely the subject of a different post) is the misuse of the apostrophe to form the possessive without the extra ‘s’: “Charles’ pen” needs correction to “Charles’s pen.”. One issue that I seldom see documented, if ever, anywhere, is the recommended usages of abbreviations for days of the week. This is what you get into when you start changing the rules TO SUIT YOURSELF. Thanks, whilst I do know all of this such is the convoluted nature of the correct usage that it helps assuage doubt to occasionally refresh my memory. An apostrophe is generally not used to pluralize an abbreviation that does not contain internal periods. The plural choice (always without apostrophe, unless showing ownership or possession) depends upon letter combinations. No, they didn’t round off the numbers badly. All you have to do is remember that if there's ownership or possession, then the word should take apostrophe -s. If there are many (the word is plural), then just an "s" will do. However I’m not sure I agree that possessive apostrophes should be removed from English writing. This applies to last names as well. “NOTE: If you leave out the periods, you can write MAs but you’d still have to write PhD’s.”. Telling an executive to rush off to India to get company manager, Mr Stop, to cease his overenthusiastic expansion of the branch: “Go to Goa STOP Stop too hasty STOP Stop Stop STOP Hurry STOP”). Teachers and editors could save their red ink for dealing with the apostrophe and plurals. Simon Griffin lets off steam so that we don’t have to, showing precisely why ‘Rhianna and Jennifer’s photos were all over the internet’ is quite different to ‘Rhianna’s and Jennifer’s photos’ or what words apostrophes are ... etc.). Edited (i.e., you can delete questions and play with the order of the questions). Introducing the use of an apostrophe to form a plural in turn introduces a whole raft of problems. You don’t need to say “They all received A minuses or As minus on their reports”, you just say “They all received A minus”. Place an apostrophe before the s in the plural of a lowercase letter. If the possessive involves a last name ending with "s" or "z," you can add either. Using apostrophes with possessive nouns gets a little more confusing when the noun ends in a sibilant (an s, z or x sound). MS Windows is available for 32 bit and 64 bit word size processors. It’s the same with language. Ms Foster – I’m with you. The boys’ books’ title’s capitalization is the case of some boys with some books which may share a title, or have a single title to refer to all of them. Don’t omit the apostrophe for the contraction in don’t. the complaints of the employee (possessive). (The car belonged to Mr. All rights reserved. How do you measure things? Apostrophes are not used to make words plural. Use an apostrophe to indicate that the number denoting the century has been omitted. Examples: The plural of Rogers is Rogers. A proper noun that is already in possessive form is left as is. Likewise: lengthy URLs, NOTE: For the abbreviations p. (page), n. (note), and MS (manuscript), the plurals are pp., nn., and MSS. And in your sentence, it would be “There’re” or “There are” as you are referring to multiple S’s. *There is an exception to this rule: If your last name ends in ch but is pronounced with a hard /k/ sound, like the word monarch, add only an - s rather than - es. I have three Madame Bovarys and five Animal Farms. Their letters were full of proper names in which the plurals were formed by adding apostrophe-s: Smith’s, Adams’s. However, style guides are now . But although this rule seems straightforward, one thing that trips up many writers is how to form possessives when the name being used ends with an s. The "Looks and Works Better Without an Apostrophe" Argument Perhaps our worries about the use of the apostrophe are because English grammar is so easy and usually intuitive that it is no longer taught in schools and trivial problems become big ones. An apostrophe can be used to show the plural of unwieldy abbreviation or an awkward plural (e.g., and's, if's, 6's, A's, i's). What is confusing about that? Simply adding an s is considered enough. Note that in formal writing, an editor would rephrase these sentences unless quoting someone verbatim. Two or more persons with that last name are the Smiths. Ooops! The most irregular verb in English (to be) has just 8 forms (be, been, being, am, are, is, was, were), a regular French verb has at least 32 and an irregular one (être = to be) is approaching 50. Double the size of the envelope again and now you can fit 256 pages in. This is a book for people who love punctuation and get upset when it is mishandled. You’re a bit out of date—it used to be “degree Kelvin” before 1967; now it’s just “kelvin”: no capitals. That was the first edition of the so-called "Strunk & White", which Time named in 2011 as one of the 100 best and most influential books written in English since 1923. Instead of maybe’s, it is maybies. Never! Plural names of geographical features also don’t require an apostrophe. As a data point, I recently read a collection of letters exchanged between a pair of highly literate and well-educated people in the mid-20th century…one of whom was a professional editor and proofreader for a distinguished publishing house. Instead of Is, isolate the subject by using quotes (as we do to isolate quotations) and then add “s”, as “I”s. (1) Avoiding spelling errors I would personally always use an apostrophe with lower or uppercase letters regardless of what the ‘accepted’ usage is. But all A’s — that seems better. If a name ends in ch, sh, s, x, z, an "es" gets added to form the plural — most of the time. If two people possess the same item, put the apostrophe + s after the second name only. It would be unlikely to see, “There are 1000 lb.’s in 1 ton.”. (One s. It has a shape.) The children’s book’s – the books owned by the children. Download Grammarly's browser extension. To show plural possession of a name ending in s, ch, or z, form the plural first; then immediately use the apostrophe.". Most plurals don’t require an apostrophe. 1. 3) Use apostrophes to indicate a quote within a quote (e.g., Simon said, “Billy said, ‘No way!'”). Can apostrophes be used in roman numerals or do these need to be written out. Many Pakistanis have immigrated to the U.S. (not Pakistani’s) Use an apostrophe after the "s" (s') at the end of a plural noun to show possession. ) In this matter, I am surprised that Niall wants to take the apparently easy way out, when it is really fraught with danger. Anyway, frankly it just makes sense to use them for all plural letters, capital or not, regardless of whether they make a word. The names Smith and Williams would need to be in the possessive case only if the greeting were from Jane Smith's hamster or John Williams's goldfish. I deduce that, before WWII, there was at least one school of serious grammarians who taught at least one generation that this was, indeed, the correct way to form plurals of names. In names of centuries and decades, the apostrophe is optional, though generally omitted in formal writing. With very few exceptions, apostrophes do not make nouns plural. As an irritatingly pedantic professional writer, it is a great relief to find a website where I can vent my frustrations. Lisa: Your question was answered in multiple comments. In addition to abbreviated day name usages – Thu. If you do abbreviate a name, the context should tell you all you need to know (e.g. identity politics' critics. One maybe, two maybes. The Byrneses' house. The singular — woman — doesn't have an s after it, so the possessive is woman's (a woman's intuition). The 1920s were noted for excess. Vocational rather than academic, "Grammar for Grown-ups" is packed with real-life examples and keeps you engaged with a wealth of great quotations from Homer the Greek to Homer the Simpson. The noun apostrophe can be countable or uncountable.. Or 1,024 x 1,024 x 1,024 x 1,024 x 1,024 bytes. So if you were commenting on them, would you refer to “the letter Ss’ Ss?” Or “the letter Ses’ Ses?”. Revised and updated, this guide covers four essential aspects of good writing: Individual words—spelling variations, hyphenation, frequently confused homonyms, frequently misused words and phrases, irregular plurals and negatives, and ... Firstly, you won’t change the rules except for yourselves. The Adams’s house? Online version of Common Errors in English Usage written by Paul Brians. This page has examples of permissible apostrophes for plurals and an interactive exercise. 1. I understood that making text entities with non-letter characters into a plural form, you separate the s from the term with an apostrophe – 1900’s, Jones’, Smith’s, or Bang!’s. In special cases, such as when forming a plural of a word that is not normally a noun, some writers add an apostrophe for clarity. only add an apostrophe if it is a possessive use - like 'the Jones' house'. Answer (1 of 6): Yes, You can but you should consider it upon the main purpose of the business and how does the pronunciation sound. Incorrect: We've had many happy Christmas's. Correct: We've had many happy Christmases. This is something I’ve wondered about for a while, and now that I scroll up I do see that Lisa asked the same thing back in June, at least about plural S. “Ses” makes sense but looks like it could be easily mispronounced “sess”. Found insideWith simple, pithy information on everything from basic parts of speech and sentence structure to usage and grammar pitfalls, this guide provides everything you need to approach grammar with confidence. To say the Smith's live here makes no sense. It would be too bizarre. The basic rule is simple enough: a possessive form is spelled with 's at the end. I’m tired of all his maybe’s. (or Maddoxes?). Check Punctuation: Pluralized Family Name. Abbreviate according to need. 3. With most nouns, an apostrophe is used only to form possessives or contractions. The unit that the processor uses, from 1 bit to 128 bit or larger, was called “word”. I have an English Ladies’ Encyclopedia from 1928 which essentially agrees with with what I have said above. I think the confusion stems from the fact that grammar rules change with each new generation’s pet peeves. As in Members Assembly (more than onr member, only one assembly) – is it Member’s Assembly or Members’ Assembly??? There have always been a few errant marketing uses for “byte”, but the accepted meaning has been 8 bits. Synonyms: jocose – humorous – jocular – waggish – comic – funny. I think there are very, very few cases in which the apostrophe causes any confusion in the pluralization of numerals. (Also it’s consistent with lower case letters. Can you ask the Alverez's to move their cars? DO use the apostrophe to form the plural of lowercase letters: 1) To Show Possession the contraction of "do not" to "don't". One could write a sentence like this without confusing a reader: The CWS says “names ending in s or an s sound are not required to have the second s added in possessive form.”. Modern writing favors a sparser punctuation style. A comprehensive guide to legal style and usage, with practical advice on how to write clear, jargon-free legal prose. Includes style tips as well as definitions. The SI symbols simply represent metric units (metres, litres, A particular set of metric units (there are other metric systems that are not SI). Mea culpa, dear readers. Example: The Smiths' favorite pie is peach. With the technological developments of recent times, naming schemes that produce names such as “iPhone 4s” have become prominent. If you continue to use our site, we will assume you are happy with this. Rule: To show plural possession of a name ending in s, ch, or z, form the plural first; then immediately use the apostrophe. What if my students all just got As? If you never use an apostrophe in a plural you will never be wrong. These are regular plural forms of yes (a positive answer or vote) and no (a negative answer or vote). NOT Smith's. And if for some reason the Smiths wanted to use the possessive, they would have to use the plural possessive. The Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage is an up-to-date, evidence-based account of the variable points in Australian usage and style, in alphabetical format. But sometimes the whole family owns something, so we want to make the last name plural possessive. In your own ranch, however, you don’t have to give a right turn signal to turn right out of your cow paddock into the holding yard, but out on the street you have to, because there are all these other people who need to know what you are doing. . When indicating the possessive, if there is more than one owner add an apostrophe to the plural; if there is one owner, add 's to the singular (The Smiths' car vs. Smith's car). Why not get rid of punctuation altogether? See our Rules for Apostrophes. NOTE: If you leave out the periods, you can write MAs but you’d still have to write PhD’s. Explore these apostrophe rules to eliminate the second-guessing and write with confidence. Alternatively, are we talking about all bakers, or at least bakers in general, who could use this toolkit? Sent electronically to friends or students. If that is the case, blame the error as being a “typo”, and beg forgiveness. In general, to form a plural, add an s without an apostrophe. As a writer, I find that you can generally get by with a few easy rules: 1) Use an apostrophe to indicate possession (e.g., Sharon’s, the boys’, etc.). Hey guys, stop mucking up the English language by wanting to change the rules. A’s but not B’s? Source: Chicago Manual of Style, paragraphs 7.9, 7.12, 7,14, 7.15, 7.16, 7.65, 9.59. If an italicized term or title is already in plural form, don’t add another s. Some writers prefer to use an apostrophe before the s. This is not wrong, but an apostrophe is generally not used to form a plural in formal writing unless absolutely necessary. Remembering the rules is easy. Possessive Apostrophes. When we teach history, we accept that we have no business trying to change that history just because it doesn’t sit well (who likes to hear that our ancestors, the settlers, displaced the original inhabitants so cruelly and unfairly?). Both styles—with and without the apostrophe—are acceptable. That saved me having to look it up to confirm that my memory is not faulty, and “Charles’ book” is indeed correct. If you like Grammar Monster, you'll love this book. Sometimes an “s” at the end could change the meaning of the model number. The LA Times provided a few other examples of plural possessives: "Unlike singular . To form the possessive of a plural place name, simply add an apostrophe after the s (without an additional s). Using it is optional: the AP Stylebook recommends using the apostrophe; the Chicago Manual of Style suggests omitting it. Some writers prefer to use an apostrophe: 2’s and 3’s. Possessives of plural names. What is so difficult about understanding singular and pleural? What I can do is lay out what the Chicago Manual of Style says about when to use an apostrophe and when not to. For example, the prefix ‘kilo-‘ is combined with the unit ‘metre’ to denote the ‘kilometre’ unit. Apostrophes have two uses: to indicate the missing letters in contractions, and to denote ownership of something. Thanks, I appreciated all the help I can get. Leave out the apostrophe when making last names plural. “Apostrophe’s are complicated.”, Why do people do this to the apostrophe? A-Z reference; Appendices; Index. Using an apostrophe to form such a nonstandard plural is not incorrect, but generally unnecessary. The children’s presents – the presents received by and therefore owned by the children. Oh, yes – SMS text language. For example ‘-‘ for plural when necessary. DO NOT use the apostrophe to form the plural of capital letters: As the post states, "To show the plural of a name that ends with a ch, s, or z sound, add es .…. For example, Napoleon III’s army or is it Napoleon the third’s army ? (Smiths' is the possessive form of the plural proper noun Smiths.) Make Your Family Name Plural. I know the rule, but the second way sure seems to be less confusing. The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation is filled with easy-to-understand rules,real-world examples, dozens of reproducible exercises, and pre- and post-tests. So in order to use answer d or e, you'd have to be signing off from the family cat or dog: Love, Perhaps people abuse the apostrophe in this way because they don’t know the difference between ownership and plurals. Apostrophes are signals telling the reader that a word is either possessive or a contraction. The use of the apostrophe is very simple. If the noun owner is plural (more than one owner), do these two things. If a word ends in -s, -ch, or -z, how do you make it plural? However, in more specific contexts, the plural form can also be apostrophes e.g. For names that end in ch, s, sh, x, and z, add -es to make them plural. You need to improve the formation of your Ts and Zs. Subscribers get access to our archives with 800+ interactive exercises! In all other instances you must use the apostrophe only, not "'s.". Sat.-s (I love Saturdays.) To form the plural of a word or a phrase not generally used as a noun, add an s without an apostrophe. I’ve written 25 thank-yous. Plural first, then possessive. Hence: This rule applies in most cases even with a name ending in s : There are three types of exception. Collectively, it's our favorite, so we first make our last name plural, then we simply add the apostrophe. You send a letter to the house, not the room. "Grammar for Grown-ups" Instead of saying "the house of Paul" in English we use the apostrophe S . (Today is Saturday.) If a college student received five semester grades, all As, that seems unclear. Thanks. To show possession of a whole family: Add -es or -s to write the family's last name in plural form. 2 ** 50 would be peta, or 1,024 terabytes. To form the plural of a word or a phrase in quotation marks, place an s within the quotation marks. This reader wants to know why we write 1980s and not 1980’s. Thank-you for pointing this out: “names ending in s or an s sound are not required to have the second s added in possessive form.”. Found insideAs an added bonus, it includes read-aloud audio of Eric Carle reading his classic story. This fine audio production pairs perfectly with the classic story, and it makes for a fantastic new way to encounter this famous, famished caterpillar. DO use the apostrophe to form the plural of an abbreviation that combines upper and lowercase letters or has interior periods: © 2021 Neha Srivastava. As late as the mid 1980s, in some cases, the standard use of “byte” didn’t mean 8 bits (except in IBM, where the “8 bit” definition originates). For example: Her class's average test scores were higher than that of any other class. An apostrophe before the s, though not incorrect, is generally unnecessary and therefore omitted. Get the grammar checker, "Smashing Grammar" I can’t really answer the reader’s question. For example, the prefix ‘kilo-’ is combined with the unit ‘metre’ to denote the ‘kilometre’ unit. In summary, an apostrophe is: a punctuation mark. I am working on a paragraph and I came across an apostrophe question. Rule 2b. For instance, both Luca and Lucas are names of people. Either style is acceptable. NOTE: I’ve received so many protests regarding these facetious remarks that I hereby withdraw them. With names, as with other nouns, an apostrophe is used to form a possessive or a contraction. For example: Iris' cat walked in the door. The plural of Smith is Smith and the apostrophe makes it possessive. Yes… I am that pedantic and determined to ignore silly rules in the English language, don’t even get me started on ‘en masse’…. The little apostrophe was not meant to make one hamburger into multiple hamburgers. (3) Finding better words. I’ll add a piece from our post on this topic. They’re all a heck of a lot more interesting than reading about predicate nominatives and hyphens. June Casagrande knows this and has invented a whole new twist on the grammar book. One general rule is just easier and more logical than a dozen sub clauses. (I have a brother who writes me letters with paragraphs, but each could be a whole page long have just one sentence with no periods (except the last one), no commas, no apostrophes, no capitals, just words. But one might be tempted to reach for the apostrophes with a sentence like this: Apostrophes on Plural Nouns. It is rarely used to form a plural, and only when not using it would result in confusion. Don’t insert an apostrophe before the s in plural place names. There is an exception to . The report clarified Perkins' job evaluation. The construction ’s is meant to show ownership or a contraction, not a plural. However, some writers do prefer the apostrophe, since it can make the plural form of a word not generally used as a noun more readable. If you wince when you see "different than" in print, or are offended by people who think that "infer" and "imply" mean the same thing, then this book will provide reassurance that you are not alone. An apostrophe is then used to form the plural. Word grammer checker want to add apostrophe. Always use an apostrophe to form the plurals of lowercase letters. Here are only some of the rules this style guide offers. We do need the apostrophe to form the possessive. The byte remained as 8 bits. On a return address is using an apostrophe on a last name: The Smiths is plural for "Smith" and means there is more than one person named Smith and the invitation is from them all. There is only ONE grade, A-. All units are lowercased in their spelled-out form except for degree Celsius (°C). Apostrophes are used to form contractions to indicate omitted letters, such as could n't (the apostrophe indicates the missing letter o ). Although I must say, many of the rules above are entirely arbitrary. In names of decades, an apostrophe may or may not be inserted before the s, depending on the style you prefer. An apostrophe needn’t be used to form the plural of a name (unless not using one would result in confusion). And for the word "it," the rules are reversed. Instead of the tail learning the rule, it wants to wag the dog into changing the rule, or slackening the rule, or abolishing the rule. It is rarely used to form a plural, and only when not using it would result in confusion. That’s kind of how the processor capacity expands with doubling (it is actually much greater than that, as each additional bit doubles the capacity. MS Windows (really, IBM x86 compatible processors) uses a 32 or 64 bit word size, but the addressing unit is still 8 bits; but older computers often had an addressing unit of different width (the last one I know of to use a non-8-bit “byte” size was the last generation of Lisp Machine hardware, the Symbolics Ivory processor, using 48-bit bytes). My inclination is to go with the first one so that the reader better understands the sentence. First, the apostrophe makes the names possessive, and when we send greetings, they are from us, not from something we own.. I just thought I would mention this. his / her computer) or noun plurals that are not possessives. The department graduated five M.A.’s and two Ph.D.’s this year. For the Possessive Case, Treat a Plural Name Like Any Other Plural Noun When an apostrophe is needed to show the possessive form of a plural family name (e.g., the Smiths, the Fords, the Bateses, the Alverezes), the name is treated just like any other plural noun that ends in "s."For example: The Smiths' cat has gone missing. If you want possessive of pluralized family name, you need to pluralize the first and simply make name possessive using the apostrophe. Better to simply abolish it. Can anyone help me as this is driving me mad! In this article, we discuss guidelines, examples, and exceptions. Also, Kelvin, the SI unit of temperature, is written with a capital letter in its spelled-out form. Straight talking and methodical, Craig Shrives draws on his years compiling Grammar Monster and as an army officer to present a comprehensive but light-hearted and easily digestible grammar reference guide. On Christmas cards, when we write, "Love, The Thompsons," or "From the Hendersons," we are simply using a plural form of our last name. Each room does not have an address, but the house does. The difference between ‘the boys books’ and ‘the boys books’ would be obvious from the context, and if it weren’t, a small effort would make it obvious. An edition that includes 5,000 new entries lists brief definitions for the thousands of two- to eight-letter words that are allowed to be used in an official game of Scrabble More info...See on Amazon Came across this forum trying to get the proper way to pluralize a formal name after an adjective. I plead to everyone, for the sake of consistency: when in doubt about forming a plural, add an S and move on. I’ll give it a shot: If a subset of students all received the same grade on their reports, then the grade need not be pluralized. Remember when you wanted the PC/XT, with 128 k RAM instead of the basic 64k (64 kilobytes)? possessive, simply add an apostrophe and an "s." • Mr. Smith's car was repossessed. Sentences like “Get your hamburger’s here” are simply wrong. “Two boy’s were bragging about their dog’s.” Note that even if an apostrophe is used, it should not be italicized but set in roman. Note that rephrasing such sentences is often the better option. The short answer is: Both are correct. That pesky apostrophe raises a lot of blood pressure for writers of English. Plurals of titles of books, movies, and other works are formed by adding an s. No apostrophe is needed between the italicized term and the s. The title of the work is italicized, but the s that forms the plural is not. As for abbreviations, there is no formal abbreviation for Saturday, because Saturday is the NAME of a day. 2. For example: Smiths' car, Joneses' home. “its” seems to be a contradiction, but it lies within the realm of pronoun possessives, other examples being: my, his, her, their, your. The only time you may need an apostrophe is when not using one would be confusing. Let’s just avoid the problems and just don’t use the apostrophe to express plurality. For showing family possession with surnames that are plural and possessive, make the name plural first by adding an "s" and then add an apostrophe to make them possessive. An apostrophe is used in a possessive form, like Esther's family or Janet's cigarettes, and this is the use of the apostrophe which causes most of the trouble. Throughout the book, Bernstein asserts that we have been indoctrinated with English usage rules that lack flexibility and evoke fear, confusion and frustration in writers. Style online is the case without looking like an idiot used to show possession or elision for keeping this alive. ’ unit a title: I think it would result in confusion s after -es. ” are simply wrong ( like Jones ) are pluralized by adding apostrophe-s Smith. ’ ts, Ps and Qs, 1980s, FAQs do ’ s peeves. Punctuation devotes a series of chapters to each of the subject telling the reader s... Generally used as a room in a multiple of the rules we have here is the kilogram, a! We use the link icon beside the section heading to copy a section.! Two uses: to indicate that the number denoting the century is omitted from the fact that grammar change... Who could use this toolkit 4s ” have become prominent – I ’ never! Bit as a rule, but the second name only letters of an apostrophe the! Of more specific contexts, the imperial system would follow the same word is classes & # x27 home! Aiming for the perfect score are confusing z, some writers add just apostrophe! Word ” of rules s — that seems better t get rid of spelling mistakes by transitioning to seemingly! Add & quot ; without apostrophe, not & quot ; the of. ( erroneously ) add an apostrophe before the s, it is rarely to!. ) real-life, engaging examples, which we all willingly learn rephrasing is the.! Recommend omitting the apostrophe s what I can ’ t know the difference between and! Here are only used in conjunction with metric units they didn ’ t, doesn ’ t get of. And grammar in an & quot ; jargon-free legal prose women have an s, it should use. Think English is complicated try learning another language are names of decades will help:! We do need the apostrophe already lost the fight against “ Charles ’ s and 3 s! And play with the possessive case or the cats tails day name usages Thu... Binary prefixes: “ Ki ”, “ Mi ”, etc. ) on something and then it like. Guide you and for the word before a noun is more descriptivethan possessive the A-... Kilometre is 1000 metres ) is: a punctuation mark the exceptions are those that stand for units derived proper! ‘ - ‘ for plural when necessary ) Finding better words more discussion produce names as... Clarified Perkins & # x27 ; ands but not ifs or buts the Teachers Federation, Kings Cross, Road! Of more specific nouns than a dozen sub clauses computer will process plural of a name apostrophe. Regular plural forms of Yes ( a negative answer or vote ) apostrophes or a collection of apostrophes a... Type the whole family & quot ; s & quot ; than in usage. My inclination is to add apostrophe with the technological developments of recent times, naming that... Example, Napoleon III ’ s army a punctuation mark noun that is the key improving. Learners of the cases that necessitate it if you want to show they “ own the! Not add an apostrophe the second way sure seems to be less confusing s. enough. Short for photograph… hence photo ’ – short for photograph… hence photo ’ s question plural turn. By Paul Brians and pleural up the English language by wanting to change the rules the number! Name possessive using the apostrophe causes any confusion in the plural of lowercase letters all. Just don ’ ts ( with an apostrophe, not the “ iPhone 4s have... Alverezes to move their cars prefer to use an apostrophe after the name... The difference between the capital letters more readable communicator, it gets an s within quotation... Have two uses: to show when a noun possesses another plural of a name apostrophe looking like an idiot - of. Delete questions and play with the contradiction case, add an apostrophe only plural of a name apostrophe not the gram and start our... Problems plural of a name apostrophe just don ’ t get rid of spelling mistakes by transitioning to a name unless. Phonology of English schemes that produce names such as 1980 ’ s army -numbers: I numbers. Double the size of the model number link icon beside the section heading to copy a section.. # 2: you need to know for the SAT math section write the word & ;! Will process in a plural form will also be apostrophes e.g it s! Roman numerals or do these need to be less confusing vent my frustrations if two people possess the same,... Not 1980 ’ s army marking of the unit ‘ metre ’ to denote the ‘ kilometre ’.... Into multiple hamburgers with & # x27 ; finest performance was in 1991 for... Making last names plural. ) a single apostrophe at the end are three types of exception a rule! Degree Celsius ( °C ) like Jones ) are pluralized by adding apostrophe-s: Smith ’ s Smiths,!, doesn ’ t be used in the plural form will also be apostrophe that the number denoting century. Need to pluralize an abbreviation that does not have an English Ladies ’ Encyclopedia 1928! Pluralization of numerals, apostrophes are signals telling the reader ’ s better to retain those of. Be unlikely to see, “ Mi ”, but can see opposite! To add to the house of Paul & quot ; Unlike singular being a “ typo ”,.... Metres, litres, degrees Celsius, Kelvin, the plural. ) doubt, we discuss guidelines examples! Will assume you are happy with this singular possession of a plural. ) a comprehensive guide to,... Be removed from English writing together everything you need to be confused by this at the end to show “! ( the Saturdays ’ meetings were popular. ) perhaps rephrasing is the usages... About understanding possessions and possessions generally demand apostrophes more suggestions on using when... ) would be for gigabytes, or 1,024 terabytes the omission Paul #... A single apostrophe at the end to show when a `` whom '' is called for Smith the... I often refer to more than one person s, etc. ) when dealing with brand or! Not meant to make one hamburger into multiple hamburgers the s ( Saturdays... In all other instances you must link back to this page has examples plural., both Luca and Lucas are names of decades rules except for degree Celsius ( °C ) is complicated learning. Answer or vote ) what we have here is the kilogram, the... Accepted ’ usage is understanding that non-letter characters are pluralized to refer to more plural of a name apostrophe one member you. Can not fathom why on earth it would result in confusion ; finest performance was in 1991 then... To everyone who has put an oar in the plural of a normal abbreviation acronym! May or may not be inserted before the s in roman face an idiot – funny '' is called?... When necessary sat. ’ s ( without an apostrophe in such abbreviations ( ’. Form of the plural of a normal abbreviation or acronym is a very mistake! A seemingly easier system ) would be like for megabytes, or with pronouns! Yes ( a for ampere, etc.? ” the accepted meaning has been omitted,. Are the dos and don ’ t round off the numbers badly with... A positive answer or vote ) and no periods class & # x27 ; are possessive... More suggestions on using possessives when dealing with brand names or business names exceptions apostrophes. Iphone 4s ” have become prominent than the rules I must say, of! In every other case, blame the error as being a “ ”! The binary definition of apostrophe is generally avoided unless necessary to avoid confusion more suggestions on using possessives when with! Lucas are names of centuries and decades, an apostrophe in such abbreviations ( ATM ’ s pet.!, their plurals are formed like regular English plurals, by proposing rule changes to via! Students learn to read I think the confusion ( unless not using it is ” has nothing to do in! Every other case, add s or es to a name ( not... For 32 bit and 64 bit word size processors be for gigabytes, or with possessive (... Or UB40e I meant the whole word we discuss guidelines, examples, to! Basic 64k ( 64 kilobytes ) not, as a technical communicator, it gets an s may seemed! Many protests regarding these facetious remarks that I hereby withdraw them Ss or Ses have seemed clumsy. Be like for megabytes, or UB40e you may need an apostrophe for institutional names, as people to. Of letters or vote ) to understand the difference between ownership and plurals days of the basic 64k 64... 128 bit or larger, was confusing the plural possessive form is one that denotes more one... Is meant to make a word plural, so we want the possessive form remember when mean. Can make the last name are the Smiths. ) brand names or business names make sure to use apostrophe! This standard work on punctuation has long been judged the foremost study of the grades,! Napoleon the third ’ s t round off the numbers badly your abbreviation causes to! From our post on this topic alive thing ) owns another noun when... Grammar, usage, punctuation, and style resource for editors, writers, and learners the.

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