After Mother’s Day this past weekend, we’ve all seen enough adverts, posters, junk mail and retail signage to remind us of just where and how to spend our money spoiling mom. Of course, Mother’s Day promotional mailers and press releases were abundant too, but apparently the time for checking grammar was not.
In an email titled “Mothers should be Mother’s” (huh?), a well-known global skin care brand couldn’t quite decide which plural was correct, so they simply used them all.
“This month we’re celebrating mothers’ everywhere…”
“The perfect gift for Mothers Day.”
And a little further in the email…
“The perfect gift for Mother’s Day.”
Ok, so not everyone is a grammar guru and apostrophes can be particularly tricky. But by nature, apostrophes tend to stick out, so here’s a quick lesson on how to use the darn things and get it right.
There are several uses for apostrophes. They can be used to show the plural of an abbreviation, letters and numbers (there are two m’s in accommodation). They are also used in time expressions (one day’s leave). Here are the two other uses that I’ll focus on a bit more:
1. Apostrophes replace missing letters.
Examples:
- We’re celebrating. (In full: we are)
- Don’t buy this. (In full: do not)
Please note that “it’s” is short for “it is” or “it has”. It is not the same as “its”.
- It’s been a great lesson. (In full: It has been a great lesson.)
- Its whiskers are long.
2. Apostrophes show possession.
Examples:
- John’s coffee is great. (Whose coffee is great?)
- That shop’s flowers are fresh.
Before or after the s? This depends on whether the word is plural or singular. To show singular possession, put the apostrophe before the s. To show plural possession, put the apostrophe after the s.
Examples:
- The cats’ bowls are empty. (Many hungry cats.)
- The cat’s bowls are empty. (One hungry and thirsty cat.)
The reason why so many people get it wrong is because there are several confusing exceptions. Plural words that don’t end in s have the apostrophe before the s when showing possession.
Examples:
- The people’s poet.
- The children’s jackets.
Here’s another exception:
- James’ car is red. - Interestingly, James’s is also grammatically correct. It depends on whether you pronounce the word “James” or “Jamesiz”. The spell checker shows that James’s is incorrect though (and it just looks strange to me), so I prefer to stick to the first option.
As an example of people getting it wrong, here’s a piece out of a CV I received recently:
“Worked at a Candy flosss stand Andys’s Candy. Worker at Cathys’s gift shop. Worked as a manager for Ann’’s Beauty Salon.”
To learn more about apostrophes, here is a good grammar lesson that I used to check my facts for this post. 
Popularity: 36% [?]
Recent Comments