Abbreviations and acronyms are shorter versions of existing words and phrases. The crux of the problem is that soss cannot serve as both a genitive singular and a nominative plural, because you then run into a brick wall trying to make a genitive plural. Create plural nouns in french by adding an s or x, or by substituting aux for al. One says charlzez book so one should write charless book. He said it was a good book for improving my english.
Jun 02, 2016 in the past, some publications used apostrophes to make acronyms and abbreviations plural, so until a few years ago, it was common to see something like rbis or cds in the new york times. In order to make capital letters plural, add a lowercase s. The boys books titles capitalization is the case of some boys with some books which may share a title, or have a single title to refer to all of them. Generally, you dont use apostrophes to make words or abbreviations plural e. I know pluralizing a movie would sound funny and i would probably word it to avoid the plural but i just want to know if technically would it be considered the proper way to pluralize it. To form the possessive of a singular noun that does not end in s or an s sound, add an apostrophe plus s to the noun.
Grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for students. Written with the wit, warmth, and accessibility that the podcasts are known for, grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing covers the grammar rules and wordchoice guidelines that can confound even the best writers. All you have to do is remember that if theres ownership or possession, then the word should take apostrophe s. The chicago manual of style online is the venerable, timetested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format. Perfect english grammar helps you clearly say what you want to say. Theyre designed to save time and take up less space whether youre typing or writing by hand, and can even make your writing easier to read. Heres what the cambridge grammar of the english says about it. Class singular, classes plural brush, brushes kiss, kisses match, matches dish, dishes. The apostrophe is needed here to show plural possessive. Continuing on that theme, lets look at pluralizing acronyms and numbers. Note, though, that when a word ending in s is the same in the. Aug 08, 20 mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing.
It can also sometimes be used to pluralize irregular nouns, such as single letters, abbreviations, and singledigit numbers. With very few exceptions, apostrophes do not make nouns plural. Girl, girls book, books tree, trees dog, dogs pen, pens. The grammar section was an enlightening experience for me, as someone for whom english is the first and only language. Sometimes it is necessary to use an apostrophe if the plural form could be confused with a word such as the word as versus the plural as or the word is versus the plural is, but the apostrophe is only necessary if the letter is at the beginning of the sentence. Plural acronyms without an apostrophe not only look neater but are also clearly not possessive nouns. An apostrophe is useful when only capital letters can be used, e. The apostrophe with numbers, letters, and abbreviations. The plural of an abbreviation is formed by adding s. They then use awss four times in the book, although they seem to avoid it on. An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters of each word of a compound term. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing wikipedia. In the past, some publications used apostrophes to make acronyms and. Pluralize numbers and abbreviations without apostrophes.
May 16, 2016 one unusual use of the apostrophe is in plural acronyms, like icbms ngos and cds. Seamless navigation makes it easy to find answers quickly geek out. Most nouns ending in o also form their plural by adding es to the singular. Even though it doesnt make absolute logical sense, you make initialisms and acronyms plural by adding an s to the end no matter what part would be plural if you wrote the whole thing out. 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. Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. They omit the apostrophe, unless there are periods in the abbreviation. A portion of rule 1, apostrophes, will state, many common nouns end in the letter s lens, cactus, bus, etc. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing book. How to make rbi plural grammar girl quick and dirty tips. You get the ideareally, anything to do with books and being an author in general. Abbreviations are all around us, from common titles like dr. Apple is a singular item, so youd use the singular verb was.
I got in touch with the other girl, and we decided to pool our cameron movie. The modern language association and american psychological association prohibit apostrophes from being used to pluralize acronyms regardless of periods so compact discs would be cds or c. The common explanation behind the pluralizing apostrophe is to avoid confusion where the s could be read as part of a word. Although impossible to produce a completely comprehensive medical english guide, this book goes far to cover a wide range of commonly occurring situations and pitfalls. An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase, usually using individual initial letters, as in nato north atlantic treaty organization or eu european union, but sometimes using syllables, as in benelux belgium, netherlands and luxembourg, or a mixture of the two, as in radar radio detection and ranging. If a word is both plural and possessed, it gets an s followed by an apostrophe. Each time you select the correct word, the grammar gorillas get a banana. For plural nouns ending in s, you should add only an apostrophe.
Lets just take a look at the dictionary definition of apostrophe. If, by simply adding an s to an acronym, the result is a misleading word in its own right and i cant think of an example right now ill add it in if i think of one, then you could justify using an apostrophe. Nouns ending in s, sh, ch or x form the plural by adding es to the singular. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing. An abbreviation, also called an initialism, is pronounced letter by letter. This page has examples of plurals of abbreviations and an interactive exercise worksheet. From the definitions of mass and count given above you may have already guessed the rule for pluralizing them. Its a type of abbreviation, but its different from an acronym. The boys book s titles capitalization is the case of a boy with a book which has multiple titles. Abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms by grammar girl what the heck is an initialism. Quotation marks rules youll never forget everything. Grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for. Whereas quote marks can face left or right, apostrophes only face one way.
This book is wrote by mignon fogarty grammar girl is what she called herself. None can be a singular pronoun if its referring to not one or no part, but it also can be plural when referring to not any. Grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for students is a complete and comprehensive guide to all things grammar from grammar girl, a. See more ideas about grammar, grammar humor, bones funny. Even if there is no real ambiguity, it will at least make the reader pause momentarily to check whether the apostrophe shows a plural or a possessive noun. If the name ends in s, like charles, we usually treat it like a singular noun and add s. The only time you could justify using an apostrophe in the plural of an acronym would be to avoid confusion. Generally, this is something to be avoided, but, if the author believes the apostrophe helps readers, it can be added. I am pretty sure he should have written callstoaction.
Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. Many common nouns end in the letter s lens, cactus, bus, etc. New york times bestselling author mignon fogarty shares her weekly grammar girl podcast and video tips about english, grammar, and writing. An apostrophe may be used to separate the plural suffix from the base with letters, numbers notably dates, symbols, abbreviations, and words used metalinguistically. Catchy examples help you remember core grammar rules sharpen your style. In english, we form the plurals of nouns by adding s to the singular. You should only use an apostrophe in the plural of an abbreviation, a letter, or a number to assist your reader. Abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms by grammar girl. Bear in mind that the cgel is a descriptive grammar. Its kind of the way everyone calls all forms of raw japanese food sushi, even though sushi is really only the american invention of rolls. Possessive with acronyms ending in s pain in the english. However, it is also correct to just add the apostrophe. Forming possessives with singular names by tyler krupa i dont think that im revealing a big grammar secret by letting you know that the possessive of a singular name is formed by adding an apostrophe and an s e. There are conflicting policies and theories about how to show possession when.
Jul 01, 2014 in english, we form the plurals of nouns by adding s to the singular. 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. One unusual use of the apostrophe is in plural acronyms, like icbms ngos and cds. Nov 02, 2016 in february 2014, a new edition of the blue book of grammar and punctuation will be issued. The word is pronounced as spelt and no full stops are used. In this post, we share our vision for the apa style blog of the future. To form the possessive of a singular noun that does end in s or an s sound, add an. That is why people commonly accept acronym and tend to not even know what initialism means. The rule is the same regardless of whether the abbreviation has periods. Buy our book smashing grammar 2019 written by the founder of grammar monster, smashing grammar includes a glossary of grammar essentials from apostrophes to zeugma and a chapter on easily confused words from affecteffect to whetherif. If the plural noun shows ownership, do add an apostrophe after the s for regular plurals.
An apostrophe is a punctuation mark that primarily serves to indicate either grammatical possession or the contraction of two words. For instance, writing the 1960s when referring to that entire decade is. Apostrophes are used to form plurals of letters that appear in lowercase. So with regard to acronyms initialisms ending in s, and assuming that s is correct for the end of the word, if the initialism actually ends in an s, is there a rule for whether this should be written as s or just for proper nouns ending in s, an apostrophe by itself is generally considered correct e. There are conflicting policies and theories about how to show. Using an unnecessary apostrophe to form the plural of a noun is a very common mistake. If your clients audience is based in a country that uses british english, then you may wish to familiarize yourself with new harts rules. This rule works for all of the nouns in the lists of examples in the first section. Like cmos, the ap stylebook will help you apply the aps rules on grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, abbreviation, and word and numeral usage. To the delight of word nerds everywhere, grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing came out yesterday.
Terms such as fbi, hmo, and naacp, although widely called acronyms, are actually abbreviations. For singular nouns and irregular plurals those not ending in s, you should add s to the end of the word. Just as with numbers, dont include an apostrophe when pluralizing abbreviations. The traditional rule for apostrophes has always been to also include using them for forming plurals with numbers, single letters, abbreviations or acronyms, and when pluralizing words where the word itself is used abstractly as a noun which is exactly the case for dos and donts. This is a fine distinction that some consider nitpicking. To form the plural of a lowercase letter, place s after the letter. English nouns are inflected for grammatical number, meaning that if they are of the countable type, they generally have different forms for singular and plural. Im surprised by the number of words ive misused all my life. Currently, most style guides say to drop the apostrophe and simply add the s. If there was a movie or book called the man who knew too much, technically would it be proper to write the man who knew too muches being that it. Jan 24, 2020 an acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase, usually using individual initial letters, as in nato north atlantic treaty organization or eu european union, but sometimes using syllables, as in benelux belgium, netherlands and luxembourg, or a mixtu. This post is dedicated to journal articles, which may contain both volume and issue numbers.
If smart or curly quote marks are toggled on, beware of employing a beginning single quote mark 6shaped to do the job of an apostrophe 9shaped. Last month i wrote here about the correct way to pluralize proper names. If youre writing in a context that requires adherence to a. Currently, there are only two instances in which an apostrophe should be used to form a plural. If there are many the word is plural, then just an s will do. Each entry starts with a simple explanation and basic examples before moving to reallife, entertaining examples. Sometimes, its called the grocers apostrophe because of how frequently it is spotted in grocery store advertisements 3 oranges for a dollar.
One unusual modern use of the apostrophe is in plural acronyms, like icbms ngos and cds. The blue book of grammar and punctuation by jane straus the authority on english grammar. How do you properly punctuate an acronym such as acs when you want to. Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller. When you want to indicate more than one, the same simple rule applies.
The plurals for capital letters and numbers used as nouns are not formed with apostrophes. Rules regarding the formation of plurals english grammar. Check this rule for yourself before reading further. Is it ever right to use an apostrophe for years and for. This signifies that someone actually said these words. It used to be that the plural form of an initialism or acronym had an added s. Making french nouns plural, however, takes a different tack when it comes to family names and nouns that end in s, x, or z. If the plural noun is not showing ownership, dont use an apostrophe. She is an inductee in the podcasting hall of fame, and the show is a fivetime winner of best education podcast in the podcast awards. Using articles with abbreviations editing and writing. For some reason, when an abbreviation is written in all caps, its tempting to put an apostrophe after it. Since this pattern violates the rule that apostrophes are not used before an s indicating a plural, many people object to it.
Sep 20, 2017 apostrophes are used to show possession. All acronyms are initialisms, but not all initialisms are acronyms. It is also incorrect to use an apostrophe when forming a plural of an acronym, though this was common in the past. Trevor hansen it would be interesting to know if these letters from the mid 20th century referred to a plural or a possessive, e. A common mistake people make is to include apostrophes when pluralizing a number or an abbreviation. Each entry starts with a simple explanation and basic examples before moving to real. However, the plural of an awkward abbreviation can be formed by adding s. There is no need for apostrophes indicating a plural on capitalized letters, numbers, and symbols. But the use of apostrophes with initialisms like learn your abcs and mind your ps and qs is now so universal as to be acceptable in almost any context. Forming possessives with singular names apa style blog.
Plurals, articles, and quantity words purdue writing lab. When to form a plural with an apostrophe daily writing tips. The farlex grammar book english punctuation apostrophes apostrophes what is an apostrophe. Over a period of years, i have developed a learning method that i believe to be new and revolutionary in teaching the structure of english languages. The dropping of the apostrophe in pluralizing acronyms is a modern phemonemon that comes about because of the modern practice, unjustifiable by traditional usage, of treating acronyms as if they were actually words. Grammar girl s helpful resource books could keep us on track. Mignon fogarty, whose popular podcasts have been downloaded over twenty million times and whose first book, grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing, was a new york times bestseller. None of the ballplayers were on the team bus after the game. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing by mignon.
Apostrophes with names ending in s, ch, or z grammar and. Mignon fogarty is the founder of quick and dirty tips and the author of seven books on language, including the new york times bestseller grammar girl s quick and dirty tips for better writing. Select the correct part of speech to complete the sentence. Apostrophes and plurals grammar girl quick and dirty tips. This article discusses the variety of ways in which english plural nouns are formed from the corresponding singular forms, as well as various issues concerning the usage of singulars and plurals in english. Quotations marks can be used around expressions to offset or call them out from the other text. The punctuation mark that most often gets mixed up with the apostrophe, by my estimation, is the single quotation mark. Grammar girls quick and dirty tips for better writing by. When pluralizing a compound word that contains more than one noun, the general rule is to make the principal noun plural. The plural of an abbreviation or acronym is shown by adding s to the end. Today, all major publications and style guides im aware of recommend simply adding an s without an apostrophe. The book i recommend to eld students is grammar girl presents the ultimate writing guide for students. For example, when pluralizing an acronym, such as cv for curriculum vitae, all you need to do is add an s to the end, as in cvs. Try not to use unfamiliar acronyms in your introductory paragraph.
Nouns ending in s, sh, ch and x, form their plurals by adding es to the singular. The chicago manual of style has an interesting way to address this. Apostrophes with words ending in s grammar and punctuation. Interactive english olympiad grammar book this is designed for students studying in middle school through high school. Composition guidelines let you express yourself fully look it up. I am getting worried, she said, that he has not called. Acronyms ending in the letter s take es in the plural. Regardless of the past use of s or the current use of just s, this is done whether the initialism already stands for something plural.
An indispensable tool for busy professionals, teachers, students, homeschool families, editors, writers, and proofreaders. She was on the show to answer a viewer question about the use of possessive apostrophes. Unless your editor wishes otherwise, if you write books, spell it dos. The plurals of abbreviations and acronyms grammar monster. Do not use an apostrophe before the s unless the apostrophe significantly helps the readers. It is the indispensable reference for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers, informing the editorial canon with sound, definitive advice.
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