’’’’’’’’’APOSTROPHE
ALERT’’’’’’’’’
Most of you have terrible problems with the apostrophe. I never cease to wonder at this, for the rules here are pretty straightforward. Moreover, it’s harder to understand a text where the appropriate rules are not observed. Lastly, this is one easy way of separating good writers from others. So, if you are a lousy apostropher, please, please, read the following and, for the next few weeks, ask yourself while you edit your work: Did I follow the simple rules for the use of the apostrophe?
We must begin with plurals. In English we say:
One boy / two boys
One lady / five ladies
One kiss / one million kisses
We also had an S to third person singular verbs: She sings; he twists and shouts; it purrs,
Note the ABSENCE of any apostrophe whatsoever above. We simply add an s, or a ies, or es—nothing more.
But, unlike for example, Spanish or Hebrew, English has a wonderful way of saying that something belongs to someone.
First, let’s look up the etymology, and learn how to pronounce and spell, apostrophe at: http://m-w.com/
Hat of the boy = The boy’s hat
The daughter of Don = Don’s daughter
The praise of the Dalai Lama = The Dalai Lama’s praise
The e-mail of everybody = Everybody’s e-mail
But what do we do when we wish to say that something belongs to more than one person or object? It’s the same rule, but here we must remember that the s is part of the word, so the apostrophe appears on the right:
The hat of the boys = The boys’ hat
The hobbies of the dogs = The dogs’ hobbies
The trip of the vets = the vets’ trip
Profiles of students = Students’ profiles
The other main use of the apostrophe is contractions: I don’t (do not); it’s (it is) up to you; I won’t (will not) do it.
That’s (almost) all there is to it. We do use apostrophes for possessives and contractions. We don’t use them for plurals and third person singular verbs. Now, do you really want to go on botching something that simple for the rest of your life, or are you willing to take a hard look at these rules, and conscientiously apply them to your work until they become second nature?
OK, study these rules for a while with your neighbors. Now, you know that in some place they have a national poet. Here in Michigan, we even have the State Troubadour (who is it? You don’t know who it is—in that case, let’s listen to him!). So, now I’m going to ask you a few questions, asking you to decide whether an apostrophe is called for, and, if so, where. We’ll work it out as a competition, and the winner will henceforth be receive the official title Class Apostropher.
A curtsey is being contemplated, but has not yet been officially decided upon.
Sounds: Way
off All Wrong
Pitching