Apostrophe's

Am sure this will bring out all the usual accusation’s about grammar nazis, but this is different to other post’s. A bit.

How can it be that some people manage to get it so wrong in one sentence or post? As in for example, people who manage to type cars and car’s, dogs/dog’s and so on as the plural of a word.

Getting it consistently wrong is inexcusable, but slightly understandable. Getting it wrong and right is just two wrong’s!

don’t get me started on panini’s

i am constantly baffled by the apostraphe.

but i’m sure i’ve got a vague idea of what they mean, and i’m keen to try, so i tend to get a bit carried away.

I’m inconsistent because i realise i’m probably getting it wrong, so make sure i get it wrong in lots of different ways – i’m playing a numbers game here, i can’t be wrong all the time!

Getting it consistently wrong is inexcusable,

inexcusable…? really?

The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe.

.

I’m – I am
I’ve – I have
I’s – I is

I’s therefore I’m. – I is theerefore I am, innit.

It’s not a difficult rule to learn, is it?

I’ve been caught out by spell checkers a few times, especially on phones if you post and don’t notice the change. It’s also a while since I was at school so some more obscure grammer escapes my memory.

You can usually tell by the whole post if it’s a typo or something deserving of the grammer police.

Facebook posts on some Mountain Bike groups make me cringe at times, seen far to many problems with breaks and if someone carnt get there breaks working then I die a little inside.

Language evolves admittedly, but so does stupid unfortunately 🙁

Bitchin’ thread!

From the pic up there… there’s nothing wrong with Jones’s. Where a word ends with an S, a possessive apostrophe can be used with or without a final S.

Once this issue has been resolved, can we move on to the correct usage of the Oxford comma?

failure breeds failure

I learned how to use them in primary school, as did most, i expect

but with so many example’s 😉 seen daily, it’s overruled that part of the brain, so spurious ‘ get typed because spurious ‘ is becoming the norm.

ban apostrophe’s 😉 and then nobody can get them wrong.

WGAF except pedants, and WGAF about their opinion?

One panino.
Two panini.

Seems to be a problem (with exceptions) limited to anglophones. My students are learning English as a 2nd or 3rd language and they almost never have a problem with it.

can we move on to the correct usage of the Oxford comma?

WGAF except pedants, and WGAF about their opinion?

Yeah, let’s.

and Captial’s what about the correct use of Capitals? 😀

On a similar note…

”Food Now Been Served”[/url]

z1ppy
It’s the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you’re shit. So get your shit together.

Having English as my second language I find I have no problems with using the ” ‘ “. I had it covered nicely on my English lessons. My native language does not use apostrophe, maybe that’s why it was easy to understand and learn what does it do?

But reading emails from my native-English work colleagues or clients often rises a solid “WTF?” question in my mind.

It’s probably worth explaining how to use an apostrophe with a nice, easy to understand graphic:

WGAF except pedants, and WGAF about their opinion?

People who still care about life, those that haven’t given up on living?

I’m inconsistent because i realise i’m probably getting it wrong, so make sure i get it wrong in lots of different ways – i’m playing a numbers game here, i can’t be wrong all the time!

Being wrong five times in one sentence says you probably can.

According to the office grammar nazi/proof reader, I am one of the worst offenders for poor grammar and spelling.
However, I am able to tell you why an apostrophe should be used.

I blame grocer’s.

Mister P – Member

Being wrong five times in one sentence says you probably can.

(genuinely keen to learn) where’d i go wrong?

is that one just there wrong too?

I assume the numerous wrong apostrophes (not apostrope’s) in OP’s post are taking the p@ss?! (Post’s / posts; wrong’s / wrongs; accusation’s / accusations)

(genuinely keen to learn) where’d i go wrong?

is that one just there wrong too? afaik with contraction you put the ‘ where the missing letters are so

where d’

might be correct but looks well wrong. <edit> but then I guess it depends whether you’re getting rid of the “di” or the “id” of did 😉

I assume the 5 mistakes mister p mentioned were not capitalising “I”

I was never really taught correct use of grammar and punctuation. It was just something that some of us picked up. Most of what I know was picked up over a long period of time – some more recently.

Interestingly punctuation and grammar is now a heavy part of a child’s English lessons at school. 6-7 year olds are supposed to be able to use an apostrophe correctly for contraction. 7-8 year olds are supposed to be able to use them to show singular and plural possession.

It’s and its used to catch me out.

I studied language and linguistics at uni and my life is a constant succession of seeing others’ grammar mistakes.

Misuse of colons and semicolons causes me pain although so does incorrect use of en and em dashes so I’m a little more grammar Nazi-ey than most!

It’s and it’s used to catch me out.

Still does apparently! No apostrophe for the possessive as it’s a possessive pronoun in itself.

Slight digression. I’ve just been in a meeting where someone said “brought” instead of “bought”.

I thought that was just a forum numpty thing, not something that people actually said out loud.

Misuse of colons and semicolons causes me pain

I haven’t got the foggiest for semi colons, tbh if I think the sentence is dragging on a bit I’ll lob a random ; in there 😉
afaik colons are for starting a list, dunno what else…. feel free to educate me

Should’ve – should of…

Grrrrr

^^^ “Should have” does sound a bit like you’re saying “should of”, when it’s contracted/unstressed, ie. /’??d?v/ , so maybe forgivable for someone who doesn’t write much.

Like, “There’s two”; it’s grammatically incorrect but it’s easier to say than “there are two” so we write it that way too.

For a start DONK, to introduce a clarification, which i take to be synonymous with “If a sentence is dragging on a bit…” you use a colon.

I ate loads for tea: chicken and mash and carrots and peas and a litre of gravy.

Colon for a tabulated list.

Colon before a direct quotation where the quotation clarifies the point.

She said the last thing I wanted to her: ‘tomorrow we start the diet’.

An introductory line before more than three lines of quoted text.

My favourite toast must be this:

blah blah blah
something Shakespearean
thus unto all ye

You can use a semicolon to join two clauses which themselves could stand as complete sentences. Usually used to balance or contrast the thrust of the two clauses. Usually use a comma before a conjunction except before the following which should be preceeded by a colon:

however
therefore
meanwhile
also
consequently
nevertheless

and a couple of others.

Semicolons ca also be used in lists to mark of items in a list.

tl;dr

If in doubt, use a semicolon and explain it away as a typo.

From the pic up there… there’s nothing wrong with Jones’s. Where a word ends with an S, a possessive apostrophe can be used with or without a final S.

Well it’s betterer to include the s if it’s pronounced as it is here, if not pronounced then it’s best left out.

The crux of the biscuit is the apostrophe.

Arf.

D0NK – Member

I assume the 5 mistakes mister p mentioned were not capitalising “I”

pfft, is that all? i’m a busy man, i haven’t got time for that kind of flamboyance…