Blog #10e: The Apostrophe
Andrew Yiannakis, Ph.D., Research Professor, University of New Mexico
In this blog I discuss, among other things, the various uses and meanings of the apostrophe. Merriam-Webster’s definition states:
“a mark used to indicate:
(i) the plural of letters or figures;
(ii) the omission of letters or figures;
(iii) the possessive case”
(i) The Plural Of Letters Or Figures
Typically we speak of the ONE or the MANY.
One is the singular form and the many (more than one) is the plural form.
Some examples of correct usage include:
Cats, NOT cat’s. Cats indicates that there is more than one cat, and cat’s is a possessive, as in “the cat’s paw”.
This a very simple rule: The plural of almost anything is indicated by simply adding an “s” on the end of a word; or by adding an “es”; or by changing slightly the end of the word. No apostrophes required.
Here are some examples:
House becomes houses in the plural form; gentleman becomes gentlemen; woman turns into women; potato becomes “potatoes”; soldier simply gets an s, as in “soldiers”; cat turns into “cats”; and burrito becomes “burritos”.
You will note that none of the above examples requires an apostrophe in the plural form.
(ii) Omission Of Letters Or Figures
The apostrophe is also used to denote that a
letter or number is missing from a word or term.
In demonstrating the omission of letters or figures we have the following examples:
The 1990s may also be written as “the ’90s”, but NOT the “90’s” (or the 1990’s for that matter). In this latter example the apostrophe between the number “0” and the letter “s” indicates that there is a letter, or number missing.
In the ’90s example the use of the apostrophe in this manner is correct because it shows that the number “19”, as in the 1990s, is missing. Thus, the ’90s is the correct form.
Also it is correct to say don’t as a contraction of “do not”, to show that an “o” is missing. Similarly, “would not” becomes “wouldn’t”, for the same reason.
In summary, the position of the apostrophe indicates where there is a letter(s) or number missing. The apostrophe is never to be used to denote the plural form of a word as in cat’s or the 1960’s. These forms are incorrect.
(iii) The Possessive Case
The apostrophe is used to denote to whom something belongs, or to indicate some form of possession.
Examples of correct usage:
a. “Linda’s book”. This example shows the use of the apostrophe to denote the possessive form. That is, it tells us that the book belongs to Linda.
b. We all went to St. James’s Park in London. You will note that the name James becomes the possessive form when an apostrophe and an “s” are tacked onto the end. However, some authorities argue that the sibilant sound that two “S” letters make next to each other creates “phonological awkwardness” for the speaker, and in recent years editors and grammarians have been dropping the second S after the apostrophe.
So the rule appears to be that when you have two similar sounding letter endings (sibilants, in this example) the second “S” need not be included. Thus, it is correct by this rule to write the possessive form of James as James’. Another example is the possessive form of Jesus, which may be written as Jesus’ as opposed to Jesus’s. But once more, authorities are not in total agreement at this time so, in the interest of parsimony, we may skip the inclusion of the second S. This appears to be the trend with proper nouns (e.g, proper names of people, countries and the like), but with regular nouns such as boss, cross or bus, the trend is to include the second S in the possessive form. Thus, it is correct to say, “the boss’s daughter” (as opposed to the boss’ daughter which both looks and sounds ridiculous!). Similarly, we would say “the bus’s engine broke down” as opposed to “the bus’ engine broke down, and so on.
In summary the current rule appears to be as follows:
The possessive form of PROPER nouns (where a sibilant such as the letter S is involved) is written thus: Jesus’ robe, or St. James’ Park. As an aside, in London the street sign for the park is written as “St. James’s Park”. Perhaps this is a remnant of another era……
However, the possessive form of REGULAR nouns (that include a sibilant) such as boss, cross, or bus is written as boss’s, cross’s or bus’s.
Go figure!!!
Let’s discuss one more example where the apostrophe helps differentiate between singular and plural forms.
For example, the “boy’s marbles” is the possessive form for ONE boy, while the “boys’ marbles” is the plural possessive for MANY boys. Similarly, “the soldier’s weapons” denotes the singular form (for one soldier) while “the soldiers’ weapons” shows the plural possessive form for several soldiers. Note the location of the apostrophe in the above examples.
As a final example, please note that the “Roman’s tactics” refers to ONE Roman’s fighting plans (the singular form) while the “Romans’ tactics” speaks to the fighting plans of many Romans (the plural form). And, also note that the plural of Roman is Romans, NOT “Roman’s”.
YOU MAY SKIP THIS PART
I believe that most of us are aware of the fact that language is always in a state of flux. This is a good indication that language is always changing and what used to be hard and fast grammatical rules are now referred to as “elements of style”, “elements of common usage”, and the like. While this process may imply that there are no rules and anything goes, this could not be further from the truth. Typically, language rules are stable, and relatively persistent, and significant change is a very slow process. That is, grammatical rules typically undergo significant modifications every fifty to a hundred years, or so, and sometimes it takes even longer. This doesn’t mean that it takes this long for new words to surface and become accepted. Rather, I am referring to the underlying rules that guide the structure and use of a language, and it is these rules that change very slowly.
Language education is clearly sensitive, and dependent on time and place. It is important, therefore, when we teach our students, to convey the importance of learning the language rule structure of their times (rather than the language structure of Dickens, for example) if they are to become efficient and persuasive writers, thinkers and speakers in their own lifetime. And, effective language skills, combined with a superior subject matter education, help open doors in many spheres of life. It is the stuff that leaders are made of (and superior teachers, too)!
Andrew Yiannakis, Ph.D.
Research Professor
University of New Mexico (USA)
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