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Discussion Forum : General Topics : Presenting the Apostrophe

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 Re: Presenting the Apostrophe


ginnyrose mentioned "contractions" as a name we can give to shortened forms of words.

We are all used to Mr for Mister, Mrs for Mistress (the wife of Mister) and Miss, the daughter of Mr and Mrs. You will notice that in Mr, [u]the first and last letter(s)[/u] were used. This is an old, recognised way of shortening a word. Always though, the letters which are used, must give enough clues in the context, as to the whole word which was intended.

Thus, when choosing the letters by which to reduce the title Esquire, Ee was abandoned in favour of Esq, which makes clear the intention, especially in the context of addressing a young man, in writing (when Esq follows the name).

Other examples, which use the beginning or beginning and end of a word, but [b]no apostrophes[/b], are Nth and Sth for north and south, Hse for house, Co for company, Inc and Ltd for limited. You will find many more in old handwriting and printing, where economy of ink and time were two reasons contractions were used.

Names of people and places traditionally begin with a capital letter. This custom is being eroded by sign writers, untrained typists on the internet, and text messaging, but in any formal written communication, the convention should be followed. However, as examples, you may still find Elizabeth being shortened to Eliz, James being shortened to Jas and William becoming Wm.

 2006/5/17 15:28









 Re: Presenting the Apostrophe


Returning to phrases which use an apostrophe to indicate that a letter has been dropped from the speech and the spelling of that speech, here are a few more examples where [u]two letters are missing[/u].

Have not = havn't

Were not = wern't

Cannot = can't

Shall not = shan't


In all the phrases that I can think of with 'will', the first two letters are dropped. Thus

I will = I'll

You will (sing) = you'll

He will = he'll

She will = she'll

We will = we'll

You will (plural) = you'll

They will = they'll



In the last phrases above, the person(s) being referred to has / have (a) name(s) (a noun beginning with a capital letter - known as a [i]proper noun[/i]) which we are [i]not[/i] using.

Usually when writing, the identity of the person is established first, by using their name, then, in place of using the name again and again and again, we use 'he' or 'she'. These in place of the name are (all) are called [u][b]pro[/b]nouns[/u].

 2006/5/17 15:31









 Re: Presenting the Apostrophe


In an earlier post, I referred to possessive nouns, such as "cat's" (tail).

Now, if I say "Sam's car", although you don't know whether Sam is male or female, the phrase tells you that [b]Sam owns a car[/b]. "Sam's" is a possessive noun.

If I tell you Sam is a man, then we can say the car is his, or, it is his car.
If I tell you Sam is a woman, then we can say the car is hers, or, it is her car.

Do you see that a [b]possessive pronoun[/b] (his, hers) contains the meaning of the proper noun + apostrophe (s)?

This is the same for

mine
yours (singular)
ours
yours (plural)
theirs

All but "mine" end in an (s), but there is no apostrophe needed - ever.

Now, if James owns the car, and we write "James car", the correct place for the apostrophe is [i]after[/i] the (s), as previously discussed.

If you insist on saying "James's car" the apostrophe goes before the last (s) because there is only one James.

However, if there are two or more James who own cars, then we could make up the word Jameses, which is plural proper noun, and then the apostrophe should go after the last (s); thus we could refer to the Jameses' cars.

I know that's a clumsy example - but that is exactly why it is conventional not to bother with any more (s)s than necessary, wherever they can be avoided, while still communicating meaning.


Please tell me if any of this is falling into a pattern you can understand?

 2006/5/17 15:32









 Re: Presenting the Apostrophe

Quote:
If I tell you Sam is a man, then we can say the car is his, or, it is his car.

If I tell you Sam is a woman, then we can say the car is hers, or, it is her car.



Now, I'm going to change "it is", to it's, where the apostrophe is in place of the (i) of "is".

It's his car.

It's her car.


Rearranging the words again, we can point the attention away from the car, towards the car's owner - Sam.

Its owner is Sam.


Notice here, that "its" is a possessive pronoun, and exactly as with yours, his, hers, ours, yours and theirs, [b]there is no apostrophe in "its"[/b].

The difference between "it's" and "its" is not as tricky as it may look at first sight, because the apostrophe is used only when you are shortening the phrase "it is".

Another way to shorten "it is" with an apostrophe, is by putting one in place of the [i]first[/i] (i) instead of the second. You'll see this in hymns, and also in poetry - " 'tis ".

 2006/5/18 18:40









 Re: Presenting the Apostrophe


This post is not directly about the apostrophe.

It's about nouns and pronouns, which are a single word, which don't end in an (s), but, which refer to more than one item or person.

An example of this is "assembly".

When we write about the assembly, or an assembly, we are referring to [b]a group[/b].

"People" is another noun which refers to more than one person, but, common usage has destroyed the old correctness of using the singular verb with it. Don't be put off by this. It should be possible to use the singular verb correctly, without looking like a lemon, if the rest of your sentence is correctly constructed.

So, when we write about these (Ooops! There's another one - "these".) for the purpose of choosing a VERB, we must NOT use the PLURAL form.

[b]If the noun is not a straightforward plural word like "trees", with an (s) at the end, then it should be treated as a singular when placing the verb[/b].

A good example of this concept used correctly, would be the word "people" The verb relating to the noun "people" is underlined.

The people [u]is[/u] tired of walking.
The people [u]moves[/u] to the hills when it's hot.

Further, this can be made into a plural of its own - "peoples".

The people[u]s[/u] of Europe [u]move[/u] freely across national boundaries.


Here are two more examples


The [b]assembly[/b] [u]is[/u] meeting in the hall.

None of [b]these[/b] [u]is[/u] the original tune.

None = not one

You should NEVER find yourself writing "none [u]are[/u]".


Exactly the same applies to the word "lot".

A "lot", apart from when referring to land (a "plot") always refers to a group.

Therefore, any sentence containing "lot" should also contain the singular form of the verb.

There [u]is[/u] [b]a lot[/b] of food left over.

There [u]are[/u] [b]lots[/b] of dishes to be washed.

 2006/6/4 12:31









 Re: Presenting the Apostrophe

We need to think about verbs that end in (ss) or (sh).

Many of these can also be a noun, so you have to think how you are using them.

For instance, a talk can be called [u]an address[/u].

But when referring to the action of the person giving [u]the address[/u], you might say:

He [u]addresses[/u] his listeners.

There, "addresses" is a verb, because that is what the man is doing.

Please listen out for these, because [b]they NEVER require an apostrophe[/b].

Instead, [b]between the (ss) at the end of the root word, and the last (s), is an (e)[/b].


Here are one or two more, but, I'd like if some [b]brave people could add just one each[/b], (so there are some easy ones left to come to mind for everyone).

[Note: not all verbs ending in (ss) or (sh) can be turned into a noun, so, if you can't think of a noun to go with it, that's ok.]


stress - stresses

gush - gushes


I'll leave the rest to you guys.

 2006/6/21 5:12









 Re: Presenting the Apostrophe


Perhaps I should have said that there is never an apostrophe attached to a verb, such as the ones in the post above, or those which end in (se) (which end with a sound like a (z) sometimes, or do, after they have had an (s) added, but, there are many strange changes to spellings and endings in some of them such as


rise - rises

but which does not add a simple (ed) in the past tense - risen or rose.

I don't want to get tangled up in these at all.

The important thing to remember is that if it is a verb, it will not have an apostrophe when you change it from

I stress

to

he stresses


OR


the hoses gush

to

the hose gushes


Note, here in both "hose" sentences, "hose" is a noun.

Here it is as a verb.

He [u]hoses[/u] mud off the elephant.

I [u]hose[/u] my vehicle [u]to rinse[/u] it.

Note: "rinse" is also a verb here.

The water [u]rinses[/u] off the detergent.


[b]You don't need any apostrophes[/b].


Is this making sense?

 2006/6/21 8:47









 Re: Presenting the Apostrophe


Remember, if you are writing the word [b]"its" you don't need an apostrophe, unless[/b] you are [i]meaning[/i] [b]"it is"[/b].

Here the apostrophe stands for (i) in "is". The short form of the phrase is written "it's".

If you are writing a poem or song, you might want to use "it is" (anywhere) but the rhythm forces you to drop the (i) in "it".

Now "it is" becomes " 'tis ". You [u]lose the space between "it" and "is"[/u].

 2006/6/24 13:17









 Re: Presenting the Apostrophe


So remember....

if the form of the [b][u]verb[/u] you are using ends in an (s), [u]it will NEVER need an apostrophe[/b][/u].

 2006/7/22 6:44









 Re: Presenting the Apostrophe


I've just cut the following from a thread where it was distinctly out of place, but, it was a spontaneous example of the apostrophe in contrast with when it is not needed.

[b]whether ours or others' or both[/b]


The above is an interesting phrase showing a possessive pronoun "ours" which does not need an apostrophe, and "others' ", which does need an apostrophe to show it's possessive......

Sorry, couldn't resist dropping the (i) in "is" to complete the example that an apostrophe can also fill the place of a missing letter... ;-)

 2006/8/6 9:37





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