One of many quirkiest, some would possibly say dumbest, elements of the English language is making phrases possessive.
The principle henchman for finishing up this process is the standard apostrophe.
How precisely the apostrophe is used to point out possession is sophisticated, and we’ll get to that. First although, let’s take a look at another makes use of of this floating comma.
Omitted letters or numbers
Use the apostrophe to point when letters have been disregarded (as an illustration, in contractions like “isn’t” or “I’ve”) or when numbers have been dropped (as in, “the summer time of ’69,” or “the roaring ‘20s.’”)
Single letter plurals
If it’s essential to make one letter plural, add an apostrophe, as in “straight A’s.” Nevertheless, don’t use this identical course of for numbers: Simply add an s, as in, “he gave me my change in $1s.”
For quotes inside quotes
When you’re quoting somebody who’s quoting somebody, use a single quote — aka, an apostrophe — throughout the citation marks, as in: “Proper earlier than she dumped me, she stated, ‘you’ve been taking part in video video games for the final 19 hours.’”
Possessives
With these minor makes use of out of the best way, let’s deal with the gnarly mess that’s possessives.
Let’s begin straightforward and ramp it up.
To make a phrase possessive that doesn’t finish in “s,” you typically merely add an apostrophe and an “s,” even when the phrase is already possessive. So as an illustration: elephant’s toes, deer’s antlers, males’s socks.
When you’re utilizing a joint phrase, corresponding to “the elephant and the deer’s toes,” solely the second noun will get the possessive, not the primary.
Now’s the place issues get a bit of sophisticated and arduous to recollect.
In case you have a correct noun that ends in “s,” simply add an apostrophe to make it plural: Carlos’ piano, the Smiths’ home, Arkansas’ capital.
However, simply to maintain issues spicy, if it’s a standard (non-capitalized) noun ending in “s,” you add an apostrophe and one other “s”: costume’s zipper, iris’s petals, disaster’s conclusion.
Be aware: that is an up to date rule. In earlier variations of AP model, you added solely an apostrophe if the subsequent phrase began with an “s” as properly. It’s a small mercy that we not must keep in mind that.
However in fact, there are nonetheless exceptions.
AP model says to not add an “s” to the phrases “for look’ sake,” “for conscience’ sake” and “for goodness’ sake.” However this solely applies in these particular constructions — some other plural possessive type of these phrases name for an apostrophe “s.”
This can be a good time to remind you that you just don’t must comply with all of AP model guidelines. So long as you’re constant, be happy to craft your personal exceptions — or select to disregard sure features of AP model altogether in the event that they’re cumbersome or don’t suit your wants. Simply be sure to’re preserving every part updated in your in-house model information.
Sure, these guidelines will be advanced and arduous to recollect. However preserve your model information useful, make your self a cheat sheet on a Submit-It and simply deal with being internally constant.
Allison Carter is government editor of PR Day by day. Observe her on Twitter or LinkedIn.
