S why use it

Using possessive personal pronouns in joint constructions often sounds awkward You have their and my gratitude. Usually, the best solution is to rephrase the sentence to avoid the joint construction You have our gratitude or You have their gratitude and mine.

Using an unnecessary apostrophe to form the plural of a noun is a very common mistake. With very few exceptions, apostrophes do not make nouns plural.

An apostrophe is part of the word it belongs to, so it should not be separated from the word by periods, commas, question marks, or any other punctuation mark. Apostrophes that fall at the very beginning of a contraction are often mistyped as left-hand single quotation marks. Word processors tend to do this by default. A good dictionary may also be able to offer you some guidance. Real-time suggestions, wherever you write. Apostrophe Rules Brittney Ross. Apostrophe Use: Contractions and Omissions A contraction is a shortened form of a word or group of words that omits certain letters or sounds.

If the compound noun e. Rule 4a. Note: As the above examples demonstrate, when one of the co-owners is written as a pronoun, use possessive adjectives my , your , her , our , their. Avoid possessive pronouns mine , yours , hers , ours , theirs in such constructions. It should be mentioned that compound possessives are often clunky as well as confusing. Big difference. Such ambiguous sentences should just be rewritten.

Rule 4b. In cases of separate rather than joint possession, use the possessive form for both. The homes belong to both of them.

Rule 5. Use an apostrophe with contractions. The apostrophe is placed where a letter or letters have been removed. Rule 6. There are various approaches to plurals for abbreviations, single letters, and numerals. Many writers and editors prefer an apostrophe after single capitalized letters. See Rule 2b. Examples: There are two new MPs on the base. He learned his ABCs. She consulted with three M. Some write M. There are different schools of thought about years and decades.

The following examples are all in widespread use:. Rule 7. Amounts of time or money are sometimes used as possessive adjectives that require apostrophes. Rule 8. The personal pronouns hers, ours, yours, theirs, its, whose , and the pronoun oneself never take an apostrophe.

Examples: Correct: Feed a horse grain. Correct: Whose glasses are these? Correct: Talking to oneself in public is odd. Rule 9. The correct word is till , which is many centuries older than until.

Rule Infants, Toddlers, and Families. Information Technology. International Development. International Studies.

Public Administration. Philosophy and Religion. Physical Education and Recreation. Public Health. Risk Management and Insurance. Theatre Arts. Bachelors B. S in Risk Management and Insurance. In Public Health. Masters M. Master of Public Administration. Non-Clinical M. Specialist Psy. Doctorate Au. Psychology for Online Degree Completion Program. Changing The World. Our Priorities. Your Journey Starts Here.

We make it easy for you to apply and enter here. Ready to take the next step toward a college education? Explore our Campus. Make lasting memories and grow in ways you never thought possible. Life in Washington, D. New and Emerging Signers Student Support. Artwork and layout by Elizabeth deLumeau. Developed by Ellen Beck. Adding "S" to Show Plurality more than one This person is reading more than one book.