Colons, question marks, quotation marks, parentheses, apostrophes. Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Write the correct form of the words in the boxes below. Easily share your publications and get them in front of issuus. The possessive form is used with nouns referring to people, groups of people, countries, and animals. So let s talk about the three basic rules here, you use apostrophes first and probably most often to form possessive noun, so if ive got the noun sarah im going to add an s to make that possessive. Grammar girl quick and dirty tips for better writing pdf grammer girls quick and dirty tips grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for students grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for students by mignon fogarty quick tips for asa style the force companion quick tips and tricks quick start guide to oracle query tuning tips for dbas and developers pdf summary writing.
Attributive nouns versus possessives with apostrophes. However, if the name or word itself ends in s for example, dress or ozymandias, then you find yourself in muddier waters. Unless your editor wishes otherwise, if you write books, spell it dos and donts. Aug 10, 20 apostrophe rules english grammar lesson to improve writings skills punctuation marks duration. Weve all seen examples of people using apostrophes before an s to make a word plural, but. To form the possessive of singular nouns, add s, as in homer s job or the dog s breakfast. Members of the church i attend have been considering changing the name of our church from st. While its understood that our church does not literally belong to st. If you call it a homeowners association or a teacher s strike with the apostrophe before the s, youre talking about an association of one homeowner or a strike by one teacher.
Fowler s a dictionary of modern english usage or karen elizabeth gordon s the transitive vampire or both, really. However, if one of the joint owners is written as a pronoun, use the possessive form for both. Using an unnecessary apostrophe to form the plural of a noun is a very common mistake. The israelites flag design is nice not israelitess flag. Learn english with let s talk free english lessons 70,293 views. Jan 01, 2008 this book rates as two stars or four, depending on who you are. When we have a singular noun, we just add an apostrophe s like we have already seen.
Apostrophes english grammar 101 online grammar lessons. Now, there are some simple rules about how to use the apostrophe s. One major new use for the apostrophe was to indicate possession. Gen wrote in about the same thing, feeling a sense of horror after seeing cds written with an apostrophe in the new york times. The chicago manual of style and others recommend dos and donts. Apostrophes and puppies kiriwai said on december 4, 2018 at 2. Where the ownership of one item is plural, the apostrophe is after the s. If youre an expert english grammarian, mignon fogarty s grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing isnt for you. Sam and mary johnson live in a large house with their two daughters rachel and jenna johnson. John, it is quite common for church names to use the apostrophe s. So our first tough issuehow to make words that end with s possessivedoesnt actually have an answer.
Most genitives are formed with s the term genitive includes a larger range of relationships than possessiveownership my dog, temporary possession his cookie, a natural trait his tail, a family relationship his mom, origin his city, performer of an action his arrival, and more. If the noun is plural, or already ends in s, just add an apostrophe after the s. She was on the show to answer a viewer question about the use of possessive apostrophes. If it s a coed team, you could write girlsandboys team. Apostrophes and plurals grammar girl quick and dirty tips. Apostrophe english grammar today cambridge dictionary.
For example, the aardvarks pencil, where there is an apostrophes at the end of aardvark. The best punctuation book, period by june casagrande. Learn some common mistakes with apostrophes and how to properly use them. Why its bridget joness not jones baby grammar girl. In july 2008, holt released fogartys first paperback book, grammar girls. If the noun is singular, the apostrophe goes before the s. Grammar girl book grammar girl s s grammar girl grammar girl s grammar girl commas faq or faqs grammar girl apostrophe after z grammar girl grammar girl quick and dirty tips for better writing pdf grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for students grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for students by mignon fogarty the senior girl s guide to girl scouting i am that girl. Plural and possessive forms with names ending in y. Appo o ssttrropphhees thhee oaappos sttrro opphhee hhaas ttwwo ppriimmaarryy ffuunnccttiioonnss 1 to show possession of a noun 2 to show the omission of letters 1 stto oeshh oww ppoossssesssiionn ooff aa nnouunn add s to the singular form of the word even if it ends in s. If it appears after the s, then it will most likely be plural, i. If there are multiple nouns that refer to more personsthings add s to both nouns. The schools uniform rule will be rigorously enforced. A new victorias secret ad abuses an apostrophe, but unfortunately, its a common error.
It is acceptable to write james bike but the writing center style is james s bike. Apostrophe by frank zappa meet your next favorite book. Although it is not considered to be good english, you may add only the apostrophe words ending on unpronounced s. Pauls, julies, mikes, and susans are all possessive nouns.
In the morning, my dog skeeter loves to sleep in the sunlight that pools on the living room floor. Apostrophe rules can be broken into four main categories. Jul 24, 2019 use an apostrophe plus s to show the possessive form of a singular noun, even if that singular noun already ends in s. Grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for students. Apostrophes with words ending in s grammar and punctuation. Grammar girl book grammar girl ss grammar girl grammar girls grammar girl commas faq or faqs grammar girl apostrophe after z grammar girl grammar girl quick and dirty tips for better writing pdf grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for students grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for students by mignon fogarty the senior girls guide to girl scouting i am that girl. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing book. If the plural form of the noun does not end in s, the apostrophe goes before the s. The problem nearly always seems to stem from not understanding that the apostrophe has two very different and very important uses in english.
In ap style, you use a lone apostrophe to make singular nouns and names that end with s possessive, and in chicago style, most of the time you add an apostrophe and an s, with a few rare exceptions. Possession johns car, a friend of mine english grammar today a reference to written and spoken english grammar and usage cambridge dictionary. Apostrophes with names ending in s, ch, or z grammar and. Apostrophes and plurals with grammar girl, mignon fogarty. With very few exceptions, apostrophes do not make nouns plural. Words such as kansas that end with an s can be stumpers when it comes to apostrophes. Mignon fogarty born 1967 is a former faculty member in journalism at the university of.
An apostrophe and the letter s are used to show possession. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing by mignon. Girls or girl s would indicate possession, as if the girls literally owned the team. If a person becomes a passive viewer, this is the individuals fault rather than the tv programs. If the noun is plural, the apostrophe usually goes after the s. If there are more than one errors, separate corrected words with a space and a hyphen as in the examples.
On the other hand, the chicago manual of style still favors using them except in. When a plural noun ends in s, place an apostrophe after the s to show possession. Mar 01, 2016 apostrophes and possessive nouns, part 2. Apostrophe s the apostrophe is a punctuation mark that indicates possession, which is ownership, or missing letters in contractions. Grammar girl quick and dirty tips for better writing pdf. If the word is plural and ends in s just add an apostrophe. Decide whether the apostrophe s is possessive s or it stands for hasis.
Apostrophe use flow chart hgpublishing proofreading. Check your results by clicking on submit worksheet subject explanations. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing by. Phrases about time and money often take apostrophes. Apostrophes in company names grammar girl quick and dirty tips. Heres the scoop on when to use apostrophes to make things plural. For example, the chicago manual of style specifically calls for an apostrophe after the s in farmers.
Fogarty graduated with a bachelor of arts in english from the university of. See rules 1b and 1c of apostrophes for more discussion. It shows a relationship of belonging between one thing and another. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing wikipedia. Possession johns car, a friend of mine english grammar. If the apostrophe appears before the letter s then it may denote that the possessive case is singular, i. An important point is that if you use an apostrophe, make sure you put it after the final s. Sometimes, its called the grocers apostrophe because of how frequently it is spotted in grocery store advertisements 3 oranges for a dollar. Try to anticipate your puppies actions or your puppies actions. For example, you can use apostrophes when they help eliminate confusion, which happens most often with single letters. When pronouncing the possessive of israelites as two syllables, use just one apostrophe after the ess. There are various times when the apostrophe followed by s is.
Looking for a signs of wear to disqualify the issue as mint, sheldon inspected the comic b booksc corners and spine. So let s talk about apostrophes, now apostrophes are one of the simplest punctuation marks but i think one of the trickiest to use. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing is an educational podcast produced by mignon fogarty that was launched in july 2006 and the title of a print book by fogarty that was released in july 2008. Aug 12, 2019 brian gets irritated when he sees signs advertising cds for sale with it written cdapostrophes. Apostrophe rules english grammar lesson to improve. The eggleses are a husband and wife consultant team. To show singular possession of a name ending in s or z, some writers add just an apostrophe. John lutheran church, in order to conform to rules for usage of apostrophe s. The apostrophe probably causes more grief than all of the other punctuation marks put together. Henry holt books are available for special promotions and premiums. How to make singular and plural words that end with s possessive.
Apostrophes the blue book of grammar and punctuation. For plural, proper nouns that are possessive, use an apostrophe after the s. Confusing possessives revisited grammar and punctuation. Read on to discover all the apostrophe rules youll ever need to know.
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