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04-19-2006, 07:45 AM
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#1
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Addict
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Shropshire, UK
Gender: Female
Posts: 142
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A question about possession
I realise that this is a really dumb question, and I'm sure I do know the answer, but right now I'm having a bit of a mental block!
When I'm saying that something belongs to somebody, am I right in using an apostrophe?
Like this:
Erica slipped out from Franny's trembling hands.
or is it:
Erica slipped out from Frannys trembling hands?
Thanks,
Daisy xx |
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04-19-2006, 08:00 AM
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#2
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Profound Writer
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,004
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Yes, an apostrophe donates possession. It should not be used for plurals, or almost anything else. Except contractions.
This is all in a sticky thread: http://www.writingforums.com/showthread.php?t=58334 |
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04-19-2006, 08:19 AM
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#3
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Wordsmith
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Canada
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,107
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Anarkos
Yes, an apostrophe donates possession. It should not be used for plurals, or almost anything else. Except contractions.
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About plurals---not true. An apostrophe is used in the possessive case for a plural as well as a singular. Example:
I read the writer's poem. (singular)
I read the writers' poems. (plural)
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04-19-2006, 08:27 AM
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#4
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Prolific Writer
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 326
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by WordBeast
About plurals---not true. An apostrophe is used in the possessive case for a plural as well as a singular.
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They were probably thinking of "the grocer's plural" ("four pounds of banana's", "apple's $1 per pound"), so they probably meant "apostrophes should never be used to form a plural" rather than "apostrophes are never used with plurals in any way".
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04-19-2006, 08:43 AM
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#5
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Wordsmith
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Canada
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,107
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Beardedtroll
They were probably thinking of "the grocer's plural" ("four pounds of banana's", "apple's $1 per pound"), so they probably meant "apostrophes should never be used to form a plural" rather than "apostrophes are never used with plurals in any way".
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Perhaps, but no self-respecting grocer should try to pass off "four pounds of banana's" as grammatically correct.
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04-19-2006, 08:45 AM
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#6
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Prolific Writer
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 326
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by WordBeast
Perhaps, but no self-respecting grocer should try to pass off "four pounds of banana's" as grammatically correct.
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No, of course not. "The grocer's plural" is a common punctuation error, I didn't mean to suggest it was grammatically correct. Sorry for the confusion.
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04-19-2006, 08:54 AM
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#7
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Addict
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Shropshire, UK
Gender: Female
Posts: 142
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Thanks guys!
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04-19-2006, 08:57 AM
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#8
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Wordsmith
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Canada
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,107
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No problem, Beardedtroll. I should have added  to the grocer comment to let you know that it was mostly tongue-in-cheek.
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04-19-2006, 09:57 AM
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#9
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Wordsmith
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: South-east UK
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,887
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by WordBeast
No problem, Beardedtroll. I should have added to the grocer comment to let you know that it was mostly tongue-in-cheek. |
Or maybe only partly - it's not called the grocers' apostrophe for nothing. My local grocer sells both potatoe's and strawberry's. |
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04-19-2006, 10:22 AM
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#10
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Wordsmith
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Canada
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,107
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Mike C
Or maybe only partly - it's not called the grocers' apostrophe for nothing. My local grocer sells both potatoe's and strawberry's.
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Heh. I wonder how a possessive potato or strawberry tastes? Real mushy, I bet.
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04-19-2006, 01:24 PM
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#11
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Adept Writer
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: humboldt county
Gender: Private
Posts: 972
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yes, possession is definitely the case here. Use the apostrophe
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04-19-2006, 01:27 PM
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#12
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Prolific Writer
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 326
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by snorrie
yes, possession is definitely the case here. Use the apostrophe
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"The power of ' compels you! The power of ' compels you!"
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04-19-2006, 05:46 PM
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#13
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Profound Writer
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 1,004
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Yeah, WordBeast, I pretty clearly meant plurals not plural possessives. I can't stand that habit of saying "the grocers banana's". Obviously, if multiple grocers own some bananas, they are "the grocers' bananas".
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04-19-2006, 06:57 PM
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#14
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Wordsmith
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Back 'home' on Tinian!
Gender: Female
Posts: 11,445
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where do you kids shop?... with much more than a half-century of grocery shopping under my belt, i've never even heard the term, much less seen it displayed [that i know of]... i don't go around checking grammar and punctuation in the supermarket, though... guess the rest of you are even more nit-picky than me [hard to believe!] 
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04-19-2006, 09:38 PM
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#15
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Prolific Writer
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 326
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by mammamaia
with much more than a half-century of grocery shopping under my belt, i've never even heard the term, much less seen it displayed [that i know of]...
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I think the term, which Mike C correctly called "grocer's apostrophe" rather than "grocer's plural" as I said, is chiefly British.
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