Okay – I am so over seeing apostrophes misused and under-used! And most importantly by VAs who should know how to use them!
There are only two places an apostrophe should be used:
1. To show the contraction of two words (until such time as the ‘powers that be’ decide we no longer need them … which apparently is on the cards!):
Where letters have been removed to contract the words into one. Examples are:
will not – won’t
would not – wouldn’t
do not – don’t
is not – isn’t
were not – weren’t
we are – we’re
we will – we’ll
he will – he’ll
she will – she’ll
I have – I’ve
I am – I’m
they are – they’re
they have – they’ve
it has or it is – it’s
you are – you’re
you have – you’ve
… and so on.
2. To show possessive case:
Examples would be:
Sue’s bag (ie, the bag belongs to Sue)
The President’s motorcade…
… at the executives’ meeting…
It gets a bit more complicated with names ending in ‘s’ but basically if you’re showing ownership by a person whose name ends in ‘s’ you add an apostrophe and ‘s’ – eg: Mr Collins’s car.
Plural nouns ending in ‘s’ take just an apostrophe – eg: students’ essays.
Plural nouns not ending in ‘s’ take an apostrophe and an ‘s’ – eg: men’s, women’s, children’s
Just two simple rules to remember. Just two. This means it is NOT necessary to include an apostrophe when you are speaking in the plural – eg:
- VAs - not VA’s (unless you are signifying ownership – “the VA’s computer” or “the VAs’ computer” if there’s more than one VA)
- KPIs – not KPI’s
- PCs – not PC’s
- FAQs – not FAQ’s
The amount of times I see this misuse of the apostrophe is absolutely appalling! On TV, in publications, advertisements, marketing material – it’s really quite shocking that something as simple as this – that we learn in what, the Third Grade? – is happening more and more.
Years/numbers cannot own anything. Therefore it is NOT necessary to include an apostrophe in decades:
1970s
2000s
1920s
However you can include one if you refer to contracted decades – but where you’ve removed the first two digits – not between the numbers and the ‘s’:
the ’70s
the ’40s
… and so on.
There are no apostrophes used when referring to age – eg:
My parents are in their 50s.
Many people confuse it’s and its – it’s is only ever a contraction for it is or it has; its stands for belonging to or associated with – in the same way as “my” means belonging to me; “his” means belonging to him … “its” means belonging to it. If you’re not sure which one to use try expanding the contraction – it’s – into ‘it is’ or ‘it has’. If the sentence doesn’t make sense then you know to use its.
I’m probably fighting a losing battle here but language is one thing that differentiates us from all other animals – the least we can do is get it right!
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Hear, hear! (Or should it be Here, here!)
Seriously, couldn't agree more. We see the sign – Hairdresser's required. Ugh, check your grammar and spelling first!
I agree. I am a permanent member of the apostrophe bandwagon. My maiden name is O'Dea and for 20 odd years had to explain to people what an apostrophe was. Then had the battle of database fields, where apostrophes are not accepted and I had to spell my name wrong all the time.
That is so well said and I'm so with you on the use and misuse of the apostrophe. Nothing irritates me more than when a client tells me to put an apostrophe where there shouldn't be!
Oh yes that's a whole other topic – clients telling you to change things to what's INCORRECT. Funnily enough most of us know what we're doing! Mind you, many of the apostrophe errors I refer to are actually committed by VAs!
I do a fair bit of proof-reading and it's quite interesting to see where people choose to put apostrophes. The other day I had do'nt – I'm assuming they meant don't but perhaps they actually meant to refer to a sweet treat with a hole?
I highly recommend Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss to anyone with apostrophe confusion and http://www.apostropheabuse.com/ for example of how NOT to use them. Bit of a worry when school teachers can't get it right.
My brother in law would fall in love this blog post. We were recently discussing about this. hehe
This is an great post, I’ll definitely be sure to add your blog to my list!
This is absolutely perfect
Thankyou for posting this 