Sean's guide to the apostrophe

[Sean]

The Apostrophe

This is the most complex punctuation mark and has two main functions- abbreviation or indicating missing letters and possession or indicating belonging.

Abbreviation

For example, did not becomes didn't, they will becomes they'll, he would becomes he'd, and would have becomes would've; also the same word can abbreviate different words, eg it's abbreviates it is or it has, and what's abbreviates is, has and does in for example what's it called?, what's he done? and what's it mean?. The abbreviated word is joined to the one before to make one word.

Some abbreviations, such as would've, are less accepted in written form, and although in speaking more than one word in succession may be abbreviated, this isn't done in writing- eg you can say they'll've gone by now, but must write they'll have.

There are formations where words can't be abbreviated, eg I have to go or She's as good as I am don't become I've to go or She's as good as I'm, and conversely there are formations where abbreviated words are used but their unabbreviated forms aren't, eg Don't you think so? or Won't you go? don't appear as Do not you think so? or Will not you go?.

Will not becomes won't not willn't, as this is easier to say, and am not doesn't become am't as this is hardly easier to say.

Longer words can be abbreviated often for written purposes, eg government can become gov't or boulevard blvd, or Johannesburg Jo'burg written or spoken; o'clock is short for of the clock, no longer used, and also the apostrophe is fixed in some names, eg O'Reilly.

A dot after words can also denote abbreviation, eg Ltd. for limited, i.e. for that is to say (in Latin), Rev. for Reverend or Prof. for Professor but dots are increasing seen as unnecessary, particularly when the first and last letters are still in place, as in Mr, Dr or Sgt.

Possession

For example, Sue's book, or the table's legs. When the possessor's name already ends in an s (or s sound ie z, x, se, ce, ze or xe), the 's is usually retained but can be omitted if it makes the word or phrase awkward to say, ie James's or Julius's but Williams' or especially Moses' or Socrates' where there's already an es type sound at the end of the word; however Chris's and Jesus's are used.

When the possessor is plural the s after the apostrophe is always omitted, eg the tables' legs, boys' game or bosses' room.

The words its, theirs, ours, whose, yours and hers (also his and mine, from hes and mys) are already fixed as possessive and don't have apostrophes: hence it's and who's are always abbreviations. The singular one's, somebody's, nobody else's and also everyone's however take apostrophes, but never s'.

Men, women and children are also plural and to make them possessive, 's is added, eg women's hats. s' is never added, and chilrens, mens and womens also aren't words. However though people is likewise already plural, s' is used in refering to a number of peoples, eg the African peoples' languages- and peoples is a word, as though a plural plural.

An s of course is also added to verbs without an apostrophe to denote third person possession, eg she thinks, he takes or it begins.

Names of companies may or may not use the apostrophe, eg Lloyds Bank doesn't but Sainsbury's does- it may be removed when there's no association with the company's originators and the word becomes just a title; similarly the apostrophe is usually omitted in geographical names, eg Smiths canyon.

Possessors ending in a letter of an s sound that isn't sounded can have an apostrophe without an s after it to indicate that the previous letter should be sounded, eg Descartes' ideas.

In eg for convenience' sake or for goodness' sake the s after the apostrophe can be omitted because although these possessors aren't plural they end with the s sound and are followed by a word beginning with s sound; proper nouns however, eg James's sake, still retain it.

Where there is more than one possessor the apostrophe can go only after the last one mentioned, eg John and Sue's party.

Apostrophes are needed in one hour's work, two weeks' holiday, and five dollars' worth.

Abbreviating the i in is and leaving only the s at the end of the previous word can look superficially like possession, eg My name's Sean.

Apostrophes are usually omitted when letters are removed from the start of a word, eg phone for telephone or net for internet, other than when the shortening is less standard English, eg 'bout for about, or 'less for unless.

The apostrophe is not used to mark plurality, apart from cases like capital S's or number 1's, being clearer than Ss or 1s, even though this would normally denote possession by the S or 1; similarly dot your i's and cross your t's, grade A's or yes's, no's, do's and ex's. Apostrophes can further be used to clarify the endings of unusual words, such as n'th rather than nth.

Attorneys General is an example of a possessor where the plural s is not placed on the end word, complicating placing of apostrophes.

Moreover the apostrophe is distinct from the same 9-shaped punctuation mark for closing a quotation, or marking feet and inches or minutes and seconds of degrees.

The apostrophe has numerous other minor uses.

[Sean]

I have a note here of what's being short for what does (eg what's it do?), but I've forgotten the example of it's being short for it does (as well as it is and it has). Can anyone remind me?- I'm sure it exists...

[Danny]

Thanks for loving us like that.

[(poco) Sforzando]

An s of course is also added to verbs without an apostrophe to denote third person possession, eg she thinks, he takes or it begins.

Not sure why you felt a need to do all this; however, the above is not a possessive, but the third person singular conjugation of a present tense verb.

[eyeresist]

Now you've mastered the apostrophe, you should investigate inverted comma or quotation mark, the colon, the abbreviating period, and, above all, the comma!

[Renfield]

Now you've mastered the apostrophe, you should investigate inverted comma or quotation mark, the colon, the abbreviating period, and, above all, the comma!

Does the semicolon not appeal to you?

[BachQ]

Sean, have you ever noticed that GMGers sometimes fail to properly use question marks.

[MN Dave]

Sean, have you ever noticed that GMGers sometimes fail to properly use question marks.

They don't fail. They forget.

Ahem.  0:)

[маразм1]

there's this project manager, who writes

please set blablabla to it's corresponding blablabla. 

and she does it consistently! 

[BachQ]

Sean, do you like question marks.

[david johnson]

apostrophitis is a truly dread disease!

dj

[(poco) Sforzando]

Sean, have you ever noticed that GMGers sometimes fail to properly use question marks.

And some even split infinitives or use sentence fragments. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

[Don]

Sounds like Sean is ready to teach elementary school grammar.  But are the kids ready for the likes of Sean?

[karlhenning]

Sean, do you like question marks.

I like this?

[Brian]

Does the semicolon not appeal to you?

After seeing Dave's post about a performance on semicolon instruments in the listening thread, and then this, it's clear we should start a semicolon fan club. It's my favorite piece of punctuation. 

[ChamberNut]

Sean, you do come up with great threads, and you make us think.

Thinking of your name, I thought how although it is a common name, there are no many variant spellings of 'Sean'.  Obviously, your parents had to chose one.

Other common 'Sean' spellings:

Shawn
Shaun
Shahn
Shon
S'ean (not as commonly seen).

Are there any others you can think of?

[Wanderer]

Irrelevant fact of the day: the English semicolon is the Greek question mark.

[karlhenning]

Irrelevant fact of the day: the English semicolon is the Greek question mark.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot;

[(poco) Sforzando]

Irrelevant fact of the day: the English semicolon is the Greek question mark.

Really; Then what is the Greek semicolon;

[Renfield]

Really; Then what is the Greek semicolon;

It's a period, but inserted at the space an apostrophe occupies in English; and in Greek. Hey, I used a semicolon, how felicitous.

(Fan club, for sure. *nods*)