The
genesis of this article lies in Nick Edwards’ thread in ELT Resources and
Victor Romain’s in Professional English Teachers Network.
This
article is in three parts. Part 1 deals with the origin and uses of the
apostrophe. Part II takes a look at arguments for and against the use of the
apostrophe. And Part III contains my conclusion.
I Its origin
Wikipedia
Historical development
The apostrophe was introduced into
English in the 16th century in imitation of French practice.
French practice
Introduced by Geoffroy Tory (1529),[5] the apostrophe was used in
place of a vowel letter to indicate elision (as
in l’heure in place of la heure). It was
frequently used in place of a final e (which was still
pronounced at the time) when it was elided before a vowel, as in un’
heure. Modern French orthography has restored the
spelling une heure.[6]
Early English practice
From the 16th century, following
French practice, the apostrophe was used when a vowel letter was omitted either
because of incidentalelision (I’m for I
am) or because the letter no longer represented a sound (lov’d for loved).
English spelling retained many inflections that were not pronounced
as syllables, notably verb endings (-est,
-eth, -es, -ed) and the noun ending -es, which marked either
plurals or possessives (also known as genitives; see Possessive apostrophe, below). So apostrophe
followed by s was often used to mark a plural, especially when
the noun was a loan word (and
especially a word ending in a, as in the two comma’s).[4]
Standardisation
The use of elision has continued to the present day,
but significant changes have been made to the possessive and plural uses. By the 18th century,
apostrophe + s was regularly used for all possessive singular forms,
even when the letter e was not omitted (as in the
gate’s height). This was regarded as representing the Old English genitive singular inflection -es. The plural use was greatly reduced, but a
need was felt to mark possessive plural. The solution was to use an apostrophe
after the plural s (as in girls’
dresses). However, this was not universally accepted until the mid-19th
century.[4]
II
Uses of the
apostrophe
From
H.
Ransey Fowler’s The Little, Brown Handbook
1. Use the
apostrophe to indicate the possessive case for nouns and indefinite pronouns.
A. Add –’s to
form the possessive case of singular or plural nouns or indefinite pronouns
not ending in –s.
The cat’s paw was mangled.
The children’s parents performed Snow White.
Laura felt she was no one’s friend.
Note:
10 rules for using the apostrophe
• a child’s wants
• the men’s concerns
• the people’s choice
• everyone’s answer
• the men’s concerns
• the people’s choice
• everyone’s answer
B. Add –’s to
form the possessive case of singular words ending in –s, unless another –s
makes pronunciation difficult.
Henry James’s novels reward the patient
reader.
Doris’s paper was read aloud in our English
class.
But
For goodness’ sake, don’t holler.
Jesus’ moral principles guide the behaviour
of people even today.
Note:
10 rules for using the apostrophe
• Allison
Jones’ article (one person named Jones)
• The Joneses’ article (two or more people named Jones)
• The Joneses’ article (two or more people named Jones)
If a proper noun
or name ends in a silent s, z, or x, add
an ’s
• Theroux’s
“The Mosquito Coast”
If the family's last name ends in "s," make it plural before
adding an apostrophe. For instance, if you wanted to discuss the Williams
family, they would become "the Williamses" in a plural sense. If you
wanted to reference their dog, you'd say "the Williamses' dog." If
the last name seems awkward to say that way, sidestep the issue by saying
"the Williams family" and "the Williams family's dog."
If you're listing who owns an object, know where to put the apostrophe.
For instance, if both John and Mary own a cat, you would write "John and
Mary's cat" — not "John's and Mary's cat." "John and
Mary" is a cohesive noun phrase, and therefore only needs one apostrophe.
C. Add only an
apostrophe to form the possessive case of plural words ending in –s.
The workers’ association called a strike.
The Murphys’ car was stolen.
D. Add –‘s only
to the last word to form the possessive case of compound nouns or word
groups.
My father-in-law’s birthday was yesterday.
The council president’s address was a bore.
Go bang on somebody else’s door.
E. When two or
more words show individual possession, add –‘s to both. Add –‘s to only the
last word if they show joint possession.
Individual
possession
Harry’s and Garry’s dentists use laughing gas.
The committee’s and the lawyer’s reports
contained obvious contradictions.
Joint
possession
Merril, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner, and Smith’s
stock market report is encouraging.
The living room is an example of John and
Martha’s bad taste.
2. Use the
apostrophe to indicate the omission of one ore more letters, numbers, or words
in
standard contractions.
it’s it is
who’s who is
they’re they are
class of ’79 class of 1979
o’ clock of the clock
ma’am madam
3. Use the
apostrophe plus –s to for the plurals of letters, numbers, and words named as
words.
The sentence has too many but’s
At the end of each chapter the author had
written two 3’s.
Remember to dot your i’s and cross your t’s or
your readers may not be able to distinguish
them from e’s and l’s.
(Notice that the letters, numbers and words
are italicised (underlined in typed or
handwritten copy) but the apostrophe and
the –s are not.
Note:
10 rules for using the apostrophe
Use ’s to indicate the plural
of letters, signs, or symbols when s alone would be
confusing.
• Please spell out all the &’s.
• She got eight A’s and two B’s on her last report card.
• She got eight A’s and two B’s on her last report card.
Why
are there so many i's in
the word "indivisibility"? is
correct, depending on who you ask. This is simply for clarity reasons, so the
reader does not mistake it for the word "is." However, in modern
usage, the preference is to avoid inserting an apostrophe and instead surround
the single letter in quotation marks before pluralizing it: Why are there so many "i"s
in the word "indivisibility"?
Avoid
the problem altogether with small numbers by spelling out the word:
"ones" instead of "1's," "fours" instead of
"4's" or "nines" instead of "9's." Only spell out
words of numerals that are ten or lower.
4. Don’t use the
apostrophe in forming the possessive case of personal pronouns.
His, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs and
whose are the possessive forms; they don’t need the
apostrophe.
Don’t confuse the personal pronouns of its, theirs and whose with the contractions it’s ( it
is), they’re (they are) and who’s (who
is).
Note:
10 rules for using the apostrophe
1. When a word
ends in an apostrophe, no period or comma should be placed between the word
and the apostrophe.
• The last book on the shelf was the
Smiths’.
2. Do not use an apostrophe to indicate the
plural of a name, an all-capital abbreviation, or
numerals.
• Veterans Affairs
• musicians union
• ECGs
• WBCs
• a woman in her 40s
• during the late 1990s (1990’s—no, no, no, a thousand times no.)
• Veterans Affairs
• musicians union
• ECGs
• WBCs
• a woman in her 40s
• during the late 1990s (1990’s—no, no, no, a thousand times no.)
But
Fowler says:
Exception:
References to the years in a decade are not italicised and often omit the
apostrophe. Thus 1960’s and 1960s are both acceptable.
Another mistake to avoid is using people's names in
contractions. For example, if you use "Bob's" as a contraction of
"Bob is," then that's not correct. "Bob's" is supposed to
be a possessive, not a contraction. It's okay to use pronouns in contractions
such as "he's" or "she's."
_______________________________________________________________________
III
We
do use the apostrophe with ‘s’ even when no possession is possible.
Ownership with certain proper nouns can be tricky.
"Sunday's football game" is not technically correct (because Sunday
is incapable of ownership) but it's perfectly acceptable to say and write.
"A hard day's work" is likewise perfectly correct, even though the
day is incapable of ownership.
_________________________________________________________________________
IV
Questions and Answers
What about when it comes to I? How would you say: Reese's and I's
conversation? Because that doesn't sound right at all.
"Reese's and my conversation" is correct, but sounds awkward.
To sound more natural, you could say "my conversation with Reese".
Is there an apostrophe in "admissions committee"?
There is no apostrophe. Admissions is just part of the title describing
the committee.
Do you put an apostrophe after last names on a plaque? Is it The
Millers, The Millers', or The Miller's?
No apostophe needed: The Millers, The Miller Family, or The Miller Home
are all good options. The Millers' Home is technically correct as well. If your
last name ends in S, Z, or CH, add an "es" at the end instead of an
s: The Martinezes.
_________________________________________________________________________
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