Apostrophes show a contraction or possession.
Example (Wikipedia):
Kingsley Amis, on being challenged to produce a sentence whose meaning depended on a possessive apostrophe, came up with:
Those things over there are my husband's. (Those things over there belong to my husband.)
Those things over there are my husbands'. (Those things over there belong to several husbands of mine.)
Those things over there are my husbands. (I'm married to those men over there.)
 |
| Wow. This lady's been busy. Forget Polygamy. Go for Polyandry. O_o |
She learned her ABCs.
the 1990s not the 1990's
the '90s or the mid-'70s not the '90's or the mid-'70’s
She learned her times tables for 6s and 7s.
Exception: Use apostrophes with capital letters and numbers
when the meaning would be unclear otherwise.
Example:
Please dot your i's.
You don't mean “is.”
Example:
Please dot your i's.
You don't mean “is.”
Do your tricky fingers ever slip an apostrophe where you KNOW it doesn't belong?
1 comment:
How about counting by 1's? Ones? The number is in the 1's place.
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