Many common nouns end in the letter s lens, cactus, bus, etc. In general, follow your style manual or your own good sense, and be consistent. Care must be taken to place the apostrophe outside the word in question. On the other hand, some style manuals and critics suggest that apostrophes should never be used for plurals, even for lower case letters.
Use apostrophe s to form plurals of single letters, single numbers, and abbreviations. When a plural noun ends in s, place an apostrophe after the s to show possession. Apostrophes with words ending in s grammar and punctuation. Apostrophes with names ending in s, ch, or z grammar and. Chris exam scores were higher than any other students. The associated press stylebook provides an az guide to issues such as capitalization, abbreviation, punctuation, spelling, numerals and many other questions of language usage. She wants to know why bosss has an apostrophe and an s but chris has only an apostrophe the truth is that chris takes just an apostrophe only if you follow the rules in the the associated press stylebook. The apostrophe goes after the s when the plural has an s, ie the houses roofs are covered in snow. The truth is that chris takes just an apostrophe only if you follow the rules in the the associated press stylebook. The general rule is that the possessive of a singular noun is formed by adding an apostrophe and s, whether the singular noun ends in s or not. The style that many of us are accustomed tosimply adding an apostrophe after the s e.
Ap style is kansas chicago manual of style apostrophe rules. The department prefers bullets, but punctuate them per ap style. When you make a number plural, it gets an s but no apostrophe. The key is to make the noun of the sentence a plural first, and then use the apostrophe immediately after. Is there a standard ap style for bulleted areas of text. For plural, proper nouns that are possessive, use an apostrophe after the s.
To show possession with a singular noun, add an apostrophe plus the letter s. Add apostrophe s unless the next word begins with s. For other nouns, youd put just an apostrophe at the end, so if you had a bunch of cats and they had beds, you say that those are the cats beds, or if your parents shared a car, you would say it is your parents car. There are conflicting policies and theories about how to show possession when writing. Mary norriss thoughts on pesky possessives the new yorker. Use the letter s but not an apostrophe after the figures when expressing decades or centuries. But you should never form a plural noun with an apostrophe s. Joness document only when the word is plural and possessive do you place the apostrophe outside the s. Apostrophe rules can be broken into four main categories. The associated press style is the goto style for journalism and news writing. Do not add an apostrophe to a word ending in s when it is used primarily in a descriptive. Proper names have nothing to do with it, as nonnative speakers sometimes get wrong.
Its worth noting that the reference you gave advocates an idiosyncratic style, and other style manuals have different rules. English literature is replete with instances of apostrophe. How to handle apostrophes in unusual situations such as. Sam and mary johnson live in a large house with their two daughters rachel and jenna johnson. Since casualties can refer to either deaths or injuries, the term. Learn the major differences between chicago and ap style guides to assist your writing.
For singular common nouns that end in s, both ap and chicago styles use apostrophes. Ap rules that proper names such as chris, agnes, and russ take only an apostrophe, like these examples. Associated press style, used by most newspapers, is slightly different. The 2019 edition of the associated press stylebook and briefing on media law includes more than 200 new or revised entries, with chapters covering data journalism, business, fashion, food, religion and sports terms, as well as media law, news values, punctuation, social media, polls and surveys and a new chapter on health and science. In ap style, if a proper noun ends in s or an s sound, add an apostrophe only. Use a possessive form after both words if the objects are individually owned. After the s using an apostrophe after the s seems less common, and that is likely because it only occurs when showing plural possession. Justice thomas, whose name ends with an s, seems to favor ap style, which recommends leaving off the extra s. If a singular proper noun a name ends in s, chicago and ap handle apostrophes differently. Paula, an executive assistant, wrote to ask me to continue the discussion of apostrophes. This is one of the areas where a great many people seem to slip up grammatically and where another great horde of people become very irate.
For both ap and chicago style, if a singular noun does not end in s, add s. Notably, the chicago manual of style accepts both jesus and jesuss. This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Read on to discover all the apostrophe rules youll ever need to know. Single letters like ks get the s and an apostrophe. A common mistake people make is to include apostrophes when pluralizing a number or an abbreviation. This lesson will take the mystery out of the apostrophe s and leave you. Ap the witnesss story did not match the events recorded on tape. There are conflicting policies and theories about how to show possession when writing such nouns. Please check the style guide of whatever format youre using to make sure youre in line with their recommendations.
A proposed change to the associated press style for forming. Apostrophes are generally used in contractions and to indicate the possessive case, but they are not used to form plurals of numbers and abbreviations in apa style. Some style guides including the associated press stylebook but not the chicago manual of style recommend using only an apostrophe after singular proper names ending in s for example, achilles heel and tennessee williams plays. Nonacademic styles, such as ap, suggest simply adding an apostrophe to the end of a word that ends in s. Strunk and whites famous book the elements of style states in rule 1 to add s no matter what the final consonant.
Associated press style is to use dashes, not bullets, for lists that follow a colon. Style manuals now require the s except for a few classic names. Justice souter seems to prefer the recommendations of the chicago manual of style, which says to add the apostrophes to almost all singular nouns and names that end with s. Most genitives are formed with s the term genitive includes a larger range of relationships than possessiveownership my dog, temporary possession his cookie, a natural trait his tail, a family relationship his mom, origin his city, performer of an action his arrival, and more. After each dash, capitalize the first letter and use periods at the end of each section. When to put an apostrophe before the s and when to put. If possession is ninetenths of the law, just imagine how important correctly signifying it in your writing is. While normal people wonder about apostrophes in general, believe it or not, word nerds have heated arguments over whether to use an additional s with singular possession rule 1. The chicago manual of style online is the venerable, timetested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format.
Because women is already plural, when you add the possessive s, the apostrophe goes. Is it correct to place an apostrophe after the letter z. Its pronouncement on the apostrophe and s drew twentyeight. Roy peter clark settles the possessive apostrophe debate. What follows are summaries of some of the most common style rules.
Where do you put the apostrophe after names that end in s. For example, both the chicago manual of style and garners modern american usage would recommend jesss bridal shower. The ap style as its known in the trade is quite different from the new york times style or chicago manual of style. But just between you and me, you can use this shootfromthehip style in personal email. It depends on who you ask, and it depends on the kind of noun in question. Spiralbound book, updated each spring 2019 ap stylebook. Ap and chicago if the word after the noun does not begin.
For single letters numbers, and abbreviations, add s, unless the result would be confusing. Ontario training network grammar tip apostrophes with. Use an apostrophe after the s at the end of a plural noun to show possession. On the other hand, the associated press stylebook would recommend jess bridal shower so, arguably, if this is really a point of contention, then what you and your friends should do. Do, however, use an apostrophe before figures expressing a decade if numerals are left out. Forming possessives of words ending in s or an s sound by karen yin 9 comments im going to focus on the difference between how the associated press stylebook and the chicago manual of style handle possessives for words ending in s or an s sound. Names of books, poems, plays, films, and songs should be. Fred and sylvias apartment, fred and sylvias stocks.
The use of apostrophe s has proven confusing to many people, so if it confuses you, try not to worry. In chicago style, use an apostrophes if singular and just an. When you are using a common noun ending in s that is possessive, do you use apostrophes or just an apostrophe. Per apa style, the answer is that the possessive of a singular name is formed by adding an apostrophe and an s, even when the name ends in s see p. The first is to signal a contraction missing letters as in thats for that is d. If youre new to news writing or switching from one to another, youll want to keep this ap cheat sheet handy and. Add apostrophe s if singular, and add an apostrophe if plural. Ap uses dashes, not bullets, for lists in news stories that follow a colon. In other style guides, chris takes an apostrophe and an s. Other style guides like the chicago manual of style agree largely with strunk and white, while the ap stylebook uses only an apostrophe for proper names ending in s and common nouns ending in s where the first letter of the. To show plural possession, simply put an apostrophe after the s. We took at look at the ap stylebook s section on possessions possessives and exorcised some demons coming up with these guidelines. The apostrophe in the contraction dont seems to make people want to use an apostrophe to make do plural do s and donts, but then to be consistent, youd also have to use an apostrophe to make dont plural, which becomes downright ugly do s and dont s style guides and usage books dont agree.
A full suite of products to help you stay in style, whether on your desktop. Chris photograph appears on page 1 of the business. After each bullet, capitalize the first letter and use periods at the end of each item. For proper names, you add the apostrophes to the end. If a singular common noun ends in s, chicago and ap handle apostrophes differently. Their practice is that any time a words ends in s, you put an apostrophe after the s to make it possessive. I have a question regarding the use of the apostrophe after dates and acronyms.
For singular proper names ending in s, ap style is to add only an apostrophe to make them possessive. Apostrophe in literature is an arrangement of words addressing a nonexistent person or an abstract idea in such a way as if it were present and capable of understanding feelings. For an ellipsis, ap calls for three periods, with a space before and after. Though a true maven would write jesu, thus avoiding the. The apostrophe may be used for clarity with the plurals of single letters as in minding your ps and qs as and ss use of the apostrophe may be recommended only for lowercase letters. Possessive grammar, style, and usage writing explained. When someones name ends with an s, it is acceptable to use an apostrophe without an s to show ownership, but linguists with the chicago manual of style, along with others, prefer to add an s after the apostrophe. The apostrophe has been partnered up with the letter s in a few different roles over the last 500 years, and as with many relationships the goalposts have shifted a little over time if the apostrophe appears before the letter s then it may denote that. I know some names that end in s require you to put the apostrophe after the s for possessive, but what is the exception to this rule.
What really matters to my readers is punctuation and ap style. This is a question of style, and different style manuals will give different recommendations. What is the correct way to add a possessive to a plural. Be consistent when you use apostrophes after words that end in s. We follow the guidance of leading reference books such as the chicago manual of style and the associated press stylebook. Colon capitalize the first word after a colon only if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence. Multiple letters like abcs get the s but no apostrophe. For instance, writing the 1960s when referring to that entire decade is. Commas are not necessary if only a year and month are given, but commas should be used to set off a year if the date, month and year are given. Although this presentation may look awkward to some. O in english, an apostrophe has two chief functions.
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