In Pursuit of the Wild Apostrophe
The basic guidelines for using apostrophes are really quite simple:
- Use an apostrophe to show the omission of letters in a contraction.
- Use an apostrophe with -s for possessives of singular nouns.
- Use an apostrophe without -s for possessives of most plural nouns.
The undomesticated apostrophe can drive teachers and editors to tears. Indeed, in an effort to tame the wild mark, grammar militias have assembled throughout the English-speaking world. The best known of these groups, founded in England five years ago by a retired copyeditor, is The Apostrophe Protection Society.
Can the wild apostrophe ever be brought under control? The answer, suggested by The Oxford Companion to the English Language, is probably not. Apparently there has never been "a golden age in which the rules for the use of the possessive apostrophe in English were clear-cut and known, understood, and followed by most educated people."
But let's not despair. If it's a cause we believe in, it's a cause worth pursuing. Check out our Guidelines for Using Apostrophes Correctly.
Comments
I am a CPA and surprisingly, I write a lot more more than I crunch numbers. The misuse of the apostrophe has always bothered me, especially when using abbreviations, such as CPAs, NOT CPA’s.
The apostophe rule is VERY SIMPLE…the apostrophe in English replaces letters. In possessives, it replaces the letter “e” which is no longer used in the English language for this purpose. Look at Spanish and Italian contractions and you will see the origin of the English apostrophe. The apostrophe replaces letters in English contractions. There are NOT separate rules, there is only one apostophe rule. We have allowed the misuse to spread like a weed, and I am sure that the apostrophe rule is mis-taught in schools by teachers who have no idea why the apostophe exists.
Of course, you’re right, Joe: the apostrophe has a long ancestral line in European languages, going back to Latin and Greek. Centuries before Gutenberg began moving type, the apostrophe appeared in manuscripts to mark the loss of letters.
I’m trying to determine just when apostrophes turned into confetti.
Thank God I have somewhere to point people who constantly try to do the “right” thing by assuming that any noun ending with an “s” is made possessive by just adding an apostrophe. e.g. We were on Davis’ boat.
I spend more time writing to newspapers and the major networks pointing out this error but never get a response. I assume that they just don’t get it or believe it or care. CNN is of of the worst offenders. “Prince Charles’ visit to Washington… ” is a regular error of theirs.
Keep putting it out there!
Thom Gillis, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Hi !!
A question for the experts.
Here in Japan where some of the
biggest problems in helping others
with their English is when to use
“a” and “the”, another is apostrophes.
For many university researchers and
governmental officials, when publishing
an official formal scientific research paper (such as those for publishing for
peer review), the rule of thumb is to “never use any apostrophes”. Is this correct?
I’ve always been taught to use apostrophes where appropriate, even
for scientific papers..
You wouldn’t believe the number of
papers I had to go back to and
eliminate the apostrophes because
it was “scientific”, etc..
Thank you
Tsukuba, Japan
(Japan’s science city)
Hello David, and thank you for your note. I can’t say that I’ve done an exhaustive search, but I have checked with several colleagues at my university and visited every style guide on my shelves: we can’t find any grounds for excluding all apostrophes from a scientific research paper.
I do have a theory, however. Please let me know what you think.
I wonder if the original intention of the rule was to discourage the use of contractions in formal papers. That would be consistent with the policies of many academic publishers in the U.S.: contractions are generally considered too informal or conversational for scientific writing. However, such a policy would not exclude ALL apostrophes: possessive forms, if used correctly, are still considered to be appropriate.
In other words, do you think the no-contractions rule might have been mistakenly interpreted as a no-apostrophes rule?
In any case, you have my sympathies: having to eliminate apostrophes that you know are used correctly must be a frustrating task indeed.
Perhaps others can shed more light on the topic of forbidden apostrophes.
I wish you all the best!
Richard
Talk about apostrophes gone wild – I have notices a lot of new mothers are using apostrophes in their babies’ names. Example Mar’K is pronounced MarKAY, Cam’Ron (CAMron), and Ke’ron (KEE ron). Help!
Can someone help? Should I type
Omar Enterprises, Inc.’s operating hours are
Or should I leave off the Inc. all together and type it as Omar Enterprises’ hours are
Or should it be Omar Enterprises’s hours are?
Jack,
I’d simplify it and go with something like this:
Our hours of opertation are ______________
Thank you,
Omar Enterprises, Inc.
I’m wondering, what is the correct mark to replace the first two letters of a date? (’09 replacing 2009) I have always thought it was an apostrophe since it follows the rule of replacing missing characters (letters). However, several “editors” have requested I change it to a backwards single quote mark–which I don’t think is correct, but I can’t find the rule listed specifically anywhere. I don’t want to argue the point unless I am sure of my position… anyone?
Meredith,you are correct.The apostophe is used in this case to replace missing numbers.