Arrrgh! It's not that difficult...

Ok, have to get this off my chest:

http://www.grammarly.com/blog/2014/misused-apostrophes/

Grammarly’s cut-throat competition to determine the most “maddening” writing error concluded on April 6, 2014 with MISUSED APOSTROPHES crowned as the undisputed Grammar Madness bracket champion.

Tens of thousands of grammarians voted in 16 separate match-ups representing the most annoying errors in English writing.

According to one voter in the final match-up between YOUR/YOU’RE and MISUSED APOSTROPHES: “t seems like there is a whole new wave of people who believe that you NEED an apostrophe and an ‘s’ to make a word plural.”

There’s no doubt that misused apostrophes are maddening to word enthusiasts across the globe. Institutions that have taken a stand on apostrophes continue to stoke the fire:

The Domestic Names Committee of the U.S. Board on Geographic Names doesn’t like apostrophes, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Cambridge City Council proposed to abolish the use of apostrophes on street signs (The Telegraph).
The Internet doesn’t include apostrophes as part of Web addresses (for example: McDonald’s is mcdonalds.com).
Generally, an apostrophe is used to indicate possession – not plural – and to mark missing letters in contractions (for example: you are = you’re).

The Oatmeal has an amazing visual primer on how to use an apostrophe.

When in doubt, conventional wisdom tells us not to use an apostrophe in our writing. This may save us from any one of the following embarrassing – and very public – writing mistakes

Click to expand...

There, (not their or they're) I feel better now.

Thread moved to Schweb's Lounge. Not a Switcher Hangout topic.

Thanks,

- Nick

Thats (deliberate to give you a lift) good and we all feel better with that stress gone!

That gets so frustrating, especially on Facebook. However, I don't correct because I don't need my family marching on my house carrying torches.

The one that always screws me up is possessive for "it". For some reason, I always want to use it's...

Its color is red.
It's color is red.

Life's funny sometimes.

When I was writing for About This Particular Mac we were in the process of editing one of the articles in an issue. The author used the word "its" several times in an article. For some reason I had a brain freeze and tagged that as incorrect/awkward.

I stayed stuck in that mode till the publisher pointed out the mistake I was making. I was trading the word as it's when the author had clearly written it correctly. needless to say I was mortally embarrassed.

Maybe Sly the Olde Englishe would be better and use "'Tis".

pigoo3 said:

Thread moved to Schweb's Lounge. Not a Switcher Hangout topic.

Click to expand...

See there! I was raging against the improper use of ' and didn't even know which forum I was posting in!

XJ-linux said:

The one that always screws me up is possessive for "it". For some reason, I always want to use it's...

Its color is red.
It's color is red.

Click to expand...

The "trick" I sometimes use when I use contractions when writing…is to "undo" the contraction…then see how the sentence reads.

Using the example above:

- Its color is red.
- It's color is red…becomes…"It is color is red."

After the contraction is "undone" it makes things much clearer.

Like I said. I use this "trick" quite a bit…which saves me from the occasional flub!

- Nick

Exactly.

It's is always a contraction, abbreviation, meaning 'it is'
Its is what you use instead of his/hers for an indeterminate object

Apostrophes are used to abbreviate - 'what's that?' (what is that?) OR show possession - Sue's cat/house/car/shoes; pigoo3's comment; Obama's healthcare project

(Sorry, 40 years in journalism/PR)

XJ-linux said:

The one that always screws me up is possessive for "it". For some reason, I always want to use it's...

Its color is red.
It's color is red.

Life's funny sometimes.

Click to expand...

I am sure you meant to type "colour"

Well, the trickiest one is using 's for plurals. (that would be plural's) It is a very common error, and the one that prompted this thread.

As far as the possessive of it, I've always assumed that it cannot have the ' because it is already spoken for by the contraction.

neilf said:

I am sure you meant to type "colour"

Click to expand...

Ah, man, lets not go there again. We finally got Bryan to sleep.

toMACsh said:

Well, the trickiest one is using 's for plurals. (that would be plural's) It is a very common error, and the one that prompted this thread.

Click to expand...

Don't know about the US but in the UK this is known as the greengrocer's apostrophe because it is so common in shop labels: tomatoe's, avocado's, potatoe's etc.

I have been known to get a pen out and correct them...

Tomato's, potato's surely. Still wrong but spelt correctly. Don't we have a great language!!!

Er, potatoes and tomatoes do have an 'e'. But anything goes with a greengrocer. ;P

Another common mistake I'm afraid. The above should clarify things.

Who cares.


http://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/the-plural-of/potato.html


http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/blog/english-mistakes/tomatoes-or-tomatos/

What you have posted Sawday is incorrect - according to your reference and I quote:-


Some say tomāto, some say tomăto, but when there is more than one, everyone has to add –es to make it plural. The English words tomato and potato are sometimes mistakenly made plural by simply adding an –s. But these two words, along with a few others, need –es in the plural.

This sort of thing was drummed into us by rote at school in the 50s and 60s (no apostrophe because it's plural, not possessive) and I appreciate that it probably isn't done the same way now. Interestingly, even our red top newspapers bide by the old rules on apostrophes and spelling. Proper use of apostrophes, etc, is the difference, and I quote: 'knowing the difference from your **** and you're ****'.

The best, and funniest, modern usage guide to English (UK English, so there will be differences in spelling) is Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss.

Dissenters will be encouraged that I cannot do sums (math...).

neilf said:

I am sure you meant to type "colour"

Click to expand...

LOL. The only time I type "colour" is when I type "Any Colour You Like"...