The apostrophe s
- Thread starter Reverend
- Start date
John... where are you? I'm getting more and more confused as I read the replies here. I talk about possession and short for "is"... and I get plurality in the mix.
"Beyond3Ds copy editor needed here".
...or should that be :
"Beyond3D's copy editor needed here".
"Let's go jogging" or "Lets go jogging"
Shouldn't "Reverend's going to kick ass" be the same as "Reverend is going to kick ass" ? How can I type "Zips not all the way up" when it should be "Zip's not all the way up" (i.e. "Zip is not all the way up") ?
Beer and tiredness makes me go nuts... I'm going to bed
"Beyond3Ds copy editor needed here".
...or should that be :
"Beyond3D's copy editor needed here".
"Let's go jogging" or "Lets go jogging"
Shouldn't "Reverend's going to kick ass" be the same as "Reverend is going to kick ass" ? How can I type "Zips not all the way up" when it should be "Zip's not all the way up" (i.e. "Zip is not all the way up") ?
Beer and tiredness makes me go nuts... I'm going to bed
ZenBearClaw!
Newcomer
Seriously I can't see as how either of those are correct. It appears to me that the GFFX is unable to own a heatsink as the heatsink is an integral part of the GFFX and without the heatsink the GFFX would be naught at all.
Of course i could be wrong
But in "proper" english as i understand it the ('s) used to replace is and does can be best classified as a coloquialism and sloppy english with the exception to common contractions. Such as:
can't
won't
you're
couldn't
it's
etc.
Though we could all be wrong and you are refering to the other type of apostrophe wherein you would be conversing with a woman who is not there and thus has and indeterminate zipper state. In which case you are wierd as you said about your self incorispondance with yourself.
Or i could simply be crazy
Though i think that it wasn't a necisarry correction as the sentence in which it was found was also in need of a the thus demonstrating that grammer was of lesser importance than the flirting being done.
Rev-
There are two different functions of the apostrophe:
1) to indicate possession -- or, more precisely, to turn a noun into its possessive form. Singular nouns are made possessive by adding a 's:
the boy's hat
the box's contents
the class's teacher
(The last one is somewhat controversial, as some people will say that "the class' teacher" is ok, too. But, as everyone agrees that "the class's teacher" is correct, it may be best to stick to that.)
Plural nouns that end in s are made possessive by adding an ' at the end of the word:
the boys' hats
the boxes' contents
the classes' teachers
Plural nouns that end in a letter other than s are made possessive by adding an 's:
the data's implication
the deer's pelts
the fish's scales
Notice that, when the singular and plural forms of the noun are identical, this leads to ambiguity. Of course the ambiguity is there whether you are using the possesive form or not.
One final important rule: possessive pronouns do not have apostrophes. Hence:
his is the possessive form of he/him
her is the possessive form of she/her
my is the possessive form of I/me
your is the possessive form of you
its is the possessive form of it
2) to stand in for a missing letter or letters -- the typical case for this is in a conjunction. Remember, the apostrophe stands in for the missing letters, not missing spaces. Hence:
isn't for is not (the ' replaces the o)
can't for can not (the ' replaces the no)
let's for let us
we've for we have
you're for you are
that's for that is
it's for it is
zip's for zip is
y'all for you all
And so on. Another use of the apostrophe to stand in for missing letters is in indicating dialect:
walkin' for walking
bloody 'ell for bloody hell
Also note
the '70s for the 1970s (the ' replaces the 19)
class of '03 for class of 2003
3) what about plurals? -- lots of people think they should use 's to form plurals in certain cases. Lots of people are wrong. This is true even when forming the plural of an acronym, etc. So we have:
Nvidia makes GPUs.
My GPU's a piece of grap. (conjunction for GPU is)
My GPU's performance is terrible (possessive singular)
Nvidia GPUs' performance characteristics are mysterious
There are arguably some exceptions, where the apostrophe serves to seperate the base form of the noun itself from the s that makes it plural. For example:
mind your p's and q's
There are four t's in this sentance.
What is different about these examples is that, without the apostrophe, there would be no way to seperate the base noun (in these cases a single letter) from the s that makes it a plural if one did not insert an apostrophe. This is not true with an acronym like GPU, so there's no need for the apostrophe. Nor does one need to say "I got all A's" when "I got all As" is probably clear; still, the first form is more popular, probably due to the fact that As looks like the word "as".
Regarding your unsuccessful office flirtation, I'd (conjunction for I would) have to say that you unfortunately crashed and burned in grammar as in love. When your sulty coworker wrote "Zips usually all the way up," she was presumably using an incorrect word order variant of "Usually zips all the way up," itself an acceptable colloquial shortcut for "It usually zips all the way up."
Assuming she was using the word "zip" as a verb, there would be absolutely no place for an apostrophe in "zips". My guess is that you thought she meant "zip" as a short form of "zipper", and that her sentence was thus, "(The) zip(per i)s usually all the way up." Dude, I don't know why you would think that--unless you were tripped up by her putting "usually" in the wrong place--but if she actually had intended "zips" to mean "zip (a noun) is", then yes, she would have been missing an apostrophe.
Hmm...actually, taking a glance at the dictionary, it would appear that "zip" actually is an acceptable short form for "zipper". This is a bit of a surprise to me, as I certainly wouldn't use the two interchangably, but apparently it is correct to do so. I'm still guessing your clothing-challenged colleague meant "zips" to be a verb, not a noun.
Finally, the grammatically correct response to "Can you help me zip it up?" is always "OK." I know Tag is a bit of a grammar nazette, but this applies even in your distasteful public quest to statutorily rape her.
Your wife is very lucky that she married such an idiot.
There are two different functions of the apostrophe:
- To indicate possession
- To stand in for a missing letter or letters
1) to indicate possession -- or, more precisely, to turn a noun into its possessive form. Singular nouns are made possessive by adding a 's:
the boy's hat
the box's contents
the class's teacher
(The last one is somewhat controversial, as some people will say that "the class' teacher" is ok, too. But, as everyone agrees that "the class's teacher" is correct, it may be best to stick to that.)
Plural nouns that end in s are made possessive by adding an ' at the end of the word:
the boys' hats
the boxes' contents
the classes' teachers
Plural nouns that end in a letter other than s are made possessive by adding an 's:
the data's implication
the deer's pelts
the fish's scales
Notice that, when the singular and plural forms of the noun are identical, this leads to ambiguity. Of course the ambiguity is there whether you are using the possesive form or not.
One final important rule: possessive pronouns do not have apostrophes. Hence:
his is the possessive form of he/him
her is the possessive form of she/her
my is the possessive form of I/me
your is the possessive form of you
its is the possessive form of it
2) to stand in for a missing letter or letters -- the typical case for this is in a conjunction. Remember, the apostrophe stands in for the missing letters, not missing spaces. Hence:
isn't for is not (the ' replaces the o)
can't for can not (the ' replaces the no)
let's for let us
we've for we have
you're for you are
that's for that is
it's for it is
zip's for zip is
y'all for you all
And so on. Another use of the apostrophe to stand in for missing letters is in indicating dialect:
walkin' for walking
bloody 'ell for bloody hell
Also note
the '70s for the 1970s (the ' replaces the 19)
class of '03 for class of 2003
3) what about plurals? -- lots of people think they should use 's to form plurals in certain cases. Lots of people are wrong. This is true even when forming the plural of an acronym, etc. So we have:
Nvidia makes GPUs.
My GPU's a piece of grap. (conjunction for GPU is)
My GPU's performance is terrible (possessive singular)
Nvidia GPUs' performance characteristics are mysterious
There are arguably some exceptions, where the apostrophe serves to seperate the base form of the noun itself from the s that makes it plural. For example:
mind your p's and q's
There are four t's in this sentance.
What is different about these examples is that, without the apostrophe, there would be no way to seperate the base noun (in these cases a single letter) from the s that makes it a plural if one did not insert an apostrophe. This is not true with an acronym like GPU, so there's no need for the apostrophe. Nor does one need to say "I got all A's" when "I got all As" is probably clear; still, the first form is more popular, probably due to the fact that As looks like the word "as".
Regarding your unsuccessful office flirtation, I'd (conjunction for I would) have to say that you unfortunately crashed and burned in grammar as in love. When your sulty coworker wrote "Zips usually all the way up," she was presumably using an incorrect word order variant of "Usually zips all the way up," itself an acceptable colloquial shortcut for "It usually zips all the way up."
Assuming she was using the word "zip" as a verb, there would be absolutely no place for an apostrophe in "zips". My guess is that you thought she meant "zip" as a short form of "zipper", and that her sentence was thus, "(The) zip(per i)s usually all the way up." Dude, I don't know why you would think that--unless you were tripped up by her putting "usually" in the wrong place--but if she actually had intended "zips" to mean "zip (a noun) is", then yes, she would have been missing an apostrophe.
Hmm...actually, taking a glance at the dictionary, it would appear that "zip" actually is an acceptable short form for "zipper". This is a bit of a surprise to me, as I certainly wouldn't use the two interchangably, but apparently it is correct to do so. I'm still guessing your clothing-challenged colleague meant "zips" to be a verb, not a noun.
Finally, the grammatically correct response to "Can you help me zip it up?" is always "OK." I know Tag is a bit of a grammar nazette, but this applies even in your distasteful public quest to statutorily rape her.
Your wife is very lucky that she married such an idiot.
Simon F said:
That particular one is a bad habit of mine.
On the verb/noun distinction for "zip": either is possible, but I don't see how it could be anything else but a EDIT: noun for the given usage. Of course if the word order is switched around, it can be something else entirely, but adding an apostrophe requires less engineering for a suitable result (over engineering is for nuclear reactors)...and the question was for the given order, in any case.
BTW, I think we should focus on the "point and laugh at Rev" part of the discussion a bit more...
JF_Aidan_Pryde
Regular
Great post Dave H!
You're being to hard on Rev. I would have dropped the ball on that one too. I had to read that exchange a few times to figure it out.
Why can't women make it simple for us? It doesn't have to be difficult. All they have to do is buy us drinks all night, then take us home and...
Anyway, nice post Dave. I know more now.
Why can't women make it simple for us? It doesn't have to be difficult. All they have to do is buy us drinks all night, then take us home and...
Anyway, nice post Dave. I know more now.
Look guys, if you're gonna make fun of my one-but-rare moment of stupidity, I'm gonna ban all of you!
Besides, my thoughts were on writing the review of the Albatron GFFX 5600P Turbo when I read her note, so excuu-use me.
No lady can resist me if I really tried. I'm prepared (5 condoms in the wallet) and I'm experienced (married 5 times, divorced none). I'm The One.
Besides, my thoughts were on writing the review of the Albatron GFFX 5600P Turbo when I read her note, so excuu-use me.
No lady can resist me if I really tried. I'm prepared (5 condoms in the wallet) and I'm experienced (married 5 times, divorced none). I'm The One.
That makes me very very worried :?Reverend said:
That reminds me of the joke...
Q:Why did the Irishman have 3 condoms?
A: To be sure, to be sure, to be sure.
And on another related note, there is that rather bizarre (almost perverted) brain-teaser puzzle:
"Fred the gigolo has been paid to sleep with 3 women but only has 2 condoms. How does he guarantee safe sex with all 3?"
Simon F said:
He puts on both condoms, the other on top of the other. He shags the first lady, takes the topmost condom off temporarily and does the second lady. After finishing he puts puts the second condom back on, clean side out, and proceeds to bone the third lady.
What do I win?
