Ask the Grammar Geek 3
So, rather than answer a specific question, I’m gonna go on a little mini-rant…
Two weeks ago, I talked about how to use the apostrophe with a word that ends in ’s’. Today, I want to talk about how else to use an apostrophe. Because I see it wrong all.the.time. and it drives me absolutely nuts.
Right now, the apostrophe just seems to show up willy nilly all over the place… the worst is when making any word plural. Please, for the love of all that is grammatically correct, please don’t do this.
Here’s a handy-dandy rule for remembering how to use the apostrophe:
An apostrophe is used for omission and possession.
Omission – if you’ve taken out a letter or two (i.e., don’t (do not), wouldn’t (would not), it’s (yes, it’s – it is, take out the second i and you have it’s) )
Possession – If something belongs to the person/thing you are referring to (Grammar Geek’s rant, The cat’s bowl. One exception… its. Because then it would be “it is”…)
There is one teeny, tiny exception to this… when you are taking one letter (and only one letter) and you’re making it plural, then you use the apostrophe before the s. Why? Mostly to avoid confusion. For example: He got straight A’s, She had to mind her p’s and q’s. Imagine those without the apostrophe. Yikes.
Other than that, please do not use the apostrophe. Want to say something is plural? No apostrophe. There are cats, there are dogs, there are books. Unless you have something that belongs to the cat or the dog or the book, get rid of your apostrophe.
Going to the store to get a new pile of PCs and DVDs and CDs? Yup, no apostrophe there either.
I keep hearing, oh, but I want to separate the thing from the ’s’. Um. Why? Are people that dumb that they won’t understand what PCs are? or DVDs? or books? I don’t think so. (or, at least, I hope not. 
) But for me, if I see PC’s, I think, hm, the PC’s what? Which is more confusing than ’separating’ the word from the ’s’.
Just remember the rule… omission and possession. And you’ll have a happy Grammar Geek.
Hope that helps!
Hum…….I don’t remember if I was dumb enough to do the DVD’s thing. lol
Thank you! I recently argued the same point about the apostrophe when trying to make Claus into a plural – as in “The Clauses came to visit”. Everyone kept telling me that it should be Claus’s or Claus’ and I kept saying “no, that would refer to the belongings of a Claus and I was trying to write about more than one Claus” but these people kept trying to insist on the apostrophe and I felt I had maybe missed out on something somewhere in school since the rules of writing are not my strong point. I did not follow through even though so many were telling me to do so because it did not seem right to me and so I was curious and went searching for the answer. It made me feel better to see your input and to know that I was not asleep during that lesson in English class.
You mean you’re not a big fan of sign’s that say thing’s like “pizza’s to go”? Makes me insane.
Not everyone follows the same conventions. According to the Oxford Companion to the English language, all these uses of the apostrophe are standard: abbreviations
VIP’s
with letters
dot your i’s and cross your t’s
phrases
do’s and don’ts
decades
1980’s
family names
the Jones’s
Again, I apologize that maybe I should have more tact, but this is what I know. Others know about management, investments, tax laws, and technology. I’m a “grammar geek,” if I may use a term of Laurie Rauchwho authors a blog of that name. To folks like me, and probably to Laurie, having these little distractions during someone’s presentation is sort of like trying to listen to a football game and do your income taxes.
I cannot agree more.
How to nice to find someone else who can’t stand the misuse of apostrophes. There used to be a ‘tongue in cheek’ club in UK called AAA – the Abolition of The Abberant Apostrophe, but I’m afraid that it was a lost cause. Probably put to death by a mob eating potatoe’s, pizza’s and burger’s!
Even my biz website says DVD’s, and I cannot get the company to change it – aaaargh.
My other pet hate is the use of the semi-colon.