Apostrophes: Not Always Possessive
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Apostrophes: Not Always Possessive
Apostrophes’ chief purpose is to show possession, but these marks have other functions, too. They alert readers when, and where, one or more letters are missing from a word, such as the no that is dropped when cannot becomes can’t. Or they create separation to avoid confusion when two elements are combined for special reasons. For example, in When Colin writes a’s, they look like u’s, the apostrophes prevent us from thinking that the writer meant as and us. It’s hard to imagine any credible writer not using apostrophes for a’s and u’s, but beyond that, apostrophe unanimity is hard to find.
Apostrophes have a complicated relationship with plurals. Different writers have different approaches when writing the plural forms of abbreviations, some letters and numbers, and words that do not normally take plurals.
• What’s the plural of an abbreviation with periods, like Ph.D.? There’s no right answer. Some write Ph.D.s, some write Ph.D.’s.
• Most writers use apostrophes when pluralizing single capital letters (I earned three A’s), but there are some who would write three As. With groups of two or more capital letters, apostrophes seem less necessary (two new MPs, learn your ABCs), but some writers insist on them.
• Single-digit numbers are usually spelled out, but when they aren’t, you are just as likely to see 2s and 3s as 2’s and 3’s. With double digits and above, many (but not everyone) regard the apostrophe as superfluous. Most writers nowadays favor the 1900s, but some go with the 1900’s. If numerals are used to identify decades, the ’30s is widely used, but you will also see the 30’s, and occasionally even the ’30’s.
• A keyboard caveat: it takes extra effort to generate an apostrophe when it is the first character in numbers or words like the ’30s or ’tis (for “it is”). If you’re not careful, you’ll instead type an opening single quotation mark (‘), which is a backward and upside-down apostrophe. The result will be the ‘30s and ‘tis, which finicky readers consider an indefensible lapse.
• Making words plural with ’s is usually a big mistake, but some writers, as a courtesy to readers, will add ’s to words that don’t ordinarily become plural, as in no if’s, and’s, or but’s, or here are some do’s and don’t’s. Since two apostrophes in one word look clunky, you are more likely to see do’s and don’ts, which looks better, although don’ts is inconsistent with do’s. A better option might be to use italics to establish differentiation: no ifs, ands, or buts; some dos and don’ts.
• Let’s close with a possessive-apostrophe principle that confuses a lot of people. For the plurals of familiar compound nouns like driver’s license and master’s degree, the apostrophe stays the same; the plurals are driver’s licenses and master’s degrees. You may ask why not drivers’ licenses—after all, we’re talking about more than one driver, aren’t we? Well, yes and no. The driver’s in two driver’s licenses denotes that each license was issued to one driver only. The same reasoning applies to master’s degrees.
No punctuation mark causes more confusion and dissent than apostrophes. If we could get together on the rules, maybe people would use them more.
Pop Quiz
Find the incorrect sentence(s).
1. You used too many ands in that paragraph.
2. Today’s multiplication exercise will focus on 6’s and 7’s.
3. The decade of the ‘80s was marked by scandals.
4. In her note, the Ls all looked like Es.
Pop Quiz Answer
Three of the sentences would be acceptable to at least some editors and publishers. The one incorrect sentence is No. 3: The decade of the ‘80s was marked by scandals. Make it ’80s, with an apostrophe.
If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
The marks you’ve got after “6” and “7” in sentence two look exactly like the mark before “80s” in sentence three, yet in your answer key you’ve rendered the mark before “80s” differently and called it an “apostrophe” (and apparently italicized the word as well). So what are those other marks? By the way, none of the marks in this exercise look like what you’ve described above as a single quotation mark, if that was what you were going for. I’m completely baffled by your answer and stand by mine. Sentence three is fine as it is, and sentence one looks awful.
The difference between an apostrophe and a single left quotation mark, if done properly, is subtle. If you are unable to see any difference, you may wish to try viewing this grammar tip using a different internet browser.
What is the logic behind italicizing ’80s? Doesn’t make sense. (A lot of things in English do not).
In the sentence you are asking about, “Make it ’80s, with an apostrophe,” the term ’80s is not used functionally but is referred to as the word or term itself. That is why it is italicized.
I am writing a resume, every grammar checker I have used states I have a Possessive apostrophe error with my sentence:
Managed all events coordination organizing, location, staff, from set up to tear down
Is it an apostrophe error or just a poorly written statement?
It’s a little of both. The grammar checker is most likely referring to the phrase “events coordination.” It seems that you are writing bullet points or some other kind of list for your resume, not sentences. We recommend rewriting the point in question:
Managed all events, including coordination, organization, location, and staff, from setup to tear-down.
If I were creating an ad for 2015s hottest new products, would 2015s or 2015’s be correct? Confusion in the marketing department!
Thanks!
To show possession, use an apostrophe.
I’m opening my own men’s store in September and I keep having terrifying thoughts that my logo will have bad grammar.
I’m racking my brain here…so any help would be really appreciated:
A Mens’ Emporium
or
A Men’s Emporium
Doesn’t the “A” in front change the Men’s to Mens’
The possessive form is spelled Men’s, even if it is preceded by the letter A.
The article “A” in your logo is an adjective referring to the noun Emporium. Men’s also modifies the noun Emporium. The ‘s shows that men (plural) possess, or in this case, use the Emporium. Men is already plural. Adding s to denote plural before using the apostrophe to denote possession is incorrect. By the way, I like the Amen reference. I hope it was intentional.
We are designing a logo for new business called HERB AND GARDEN but they don’t want to put in AND so HERB N GARDEN. Should there be an apostrophe, and if so, should it appear before or after the N? Could it have no apostrophe?
i.e. Herb ‘N Garden or Herb N’ Garden
Since we are in the business of correct grammar and punctuation, we have no choice but to recommend Herb ’n’ Garden.
In our view, using one apostrophe would be worse than using none. One other thing: make sure the first apostrophe (preceding the n) is a true apostrophe rather than a single opening quotation mark, which is an inverted apostrophe. This is an all too common mistake nowadays.
Why are “gas station” and “tennis court” referred to as compound nouns on page 1 of The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, while “jet” is referred to as an adjective modifying “engine” on page 2?
Compound nouns can be hyphenated, solid, or open. In general, compound nouns have a meaning that is different, or more specific, than the two separate words. Thus, fire engine and basketball court are compound nouns but jet engine and king’s court are not.
To explain this further, a fire engine and a jet engine are different because the latter is an engine used in a jet plane, so all jet is doing is being a simple adjective to modify what kind of engine we’re talking about. But a fire engine is a vehicle, not an engine made of fire. When the two words go together, they mean something beyond the meaning of each word separately. There is some gray area with compound nouns, but we hope this helps.
I have a question regarding the plurals of words as words. I think that an apostrophe + s increases/aids readability to the already italicized word under consideration. Do you agree? Please refer to my examples below.
No recasts, please.
Please note that the words below are italicized, but the apostrophe + s are not. Are these okay as punctuated, exactly as written?
too many and‘s, but‘s, and if‘s in that last sentence
too many is‘s, was‘s, his‘s, and whereas‘s in his last paragraph
maybe‘s, I love you‘s, thank-you‘s
His 7‘s look like 9‘s.
The subject you have broached is one of the many gray areas involving the written word. Not every writer would use apostrophes in every one of your examples, but we see no problem with any of them.
I wish to make a statement about a product.
Drivers choice.
Do I use an apostrophe between driver and s or not? Its not meant to say driver is choice, but the choice belongs to the driver. Please help.
Yes, an apostrophe is used in the word driver’s to indicate that something belongs to an individual driver. If you are speaking of drivers in general, then it would be drivers’ choice.
This book is the sweet and bitter tale of a 1970s’ songwriter.
If this sentence is referring to the decade, is the apostrophe in the correct place?
We would interpret 1970s as an adjective to describe the noun songwriter. In this case, an apostrophe is not necessary.
I found this page after seeing the phrase:
“Good things come in 3s” in a pop up ad. Having an engineering background, I waited three seconds for the ad to change. When nothing happened, I noticed there were 3 items shown. I needed the apostrophe for “3’s.”
That’s interesting, Chris. We would have suggested that they write, “Good things come in threes.”
Actually, most jurisdictions use Driver License (or Licence in UK Cdn NZ Aus), without any s.
In the UK India and SA it’s a Driving License.
In Illinois and all of upper Canada, it’s Driver’s Licence.
I am talking about the official document itself.
In my opinion the ‘s in such cases has nothing to do with possession: If you say I have my driver’s license it could well refer to the license of your driver, as in he has the driver’s license.
Harriet’s portrait (means she’s on it, not that it’s hers). Harriet’s painting could mean she painted it, she’s on it, or she owns it.
Mens room (usual spelling on signs, like farmers market), does not imply it is the room owned by those men, but it is for men, a qualifier/attributive.
Bachelor’s degree also has nothing to do with possession. We don’t say graduate degree or associate degree, even though it belong to a graduate. In fact, all graduate degrees belong to a graduate, but bachelor’s degrees often belong to married men or women or bachelorettes. It would make more sense to say bachelor degree, like bachelor apartment and bachelor party.
Bachelor’s degree program (‘degree program’ is the noun, Bachelor’s is an adjective, but the program does not belong to any Bachelor, it is established by the department). In constructions such as Bachelor’s degree program dropping the ‘s increases in prevalency).
Grammar does not always help.
We appreciate the international information, but this website and The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation represent American English rules and guidelines. The article refers to the common noun driver’s license as is listed in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, not the formal name for the document. The formal document name is a capitalized proper noun, and use of the apostrophe varies by state.
Both the Chicago Manual of Style and the Associated Press Stylebook use an apostrophe in bachelor’s degree. Please see our post Confessions of a Guerrilla Grammarian for our comments on men’s room and our post Apostrophes and False Possessives.
I’m just curious about one of these examples on the pop quiz:
Can “The decade of the ‘80s was marked by scandals” be written without “the”? Also, is “The intense globalization since 1980s has been more successful” grammatically right?
The word the is necessary when referring to a decade in your example. If you are referring to a specific year, the word the is not used. Examples:
The intense globalization since the 1980s has been more successful.
The intense globalization since 1980 has been more successful.