There is a self-help group for this sort of thing: called "pedants anonymous"
JP
>>> Adrian Fogarty <[log in to unmask]> 08/19/02 03:53pm >>>
I've been driven to this by exasperation! I know it's strictly speaking off-list, but maybe some of you who are preparing CVs, CTRs or presentations etc might appreciate it. Oh, and I'm only going to post this sort of thing once, pending feedback!
So I'll pick my biggest gripe which is the simple apostrophe; this alone leads to the majority of punctuation errors. There are those who don't bother with it at all, which smacks of an affected couldn't-care-less attitude, but this does not make it acceptable. Remarkably however these authors are often the same ones who insert totally unnecessary apostrophes where they aren't needed! This practice simply makes them look illiterate rather than cool. The rules are quite simple:
Use apostrophes for:
Contractions
I'm, can't, won't, didn't, she'd, they've etc. This use is fairly important, we'll looks very different from well, I'll looks different from Ill, we're from were, he'll from hell, she'd from shed etc. This use is also pretty simple, but don't confuse they're (contraction of they are) with their (possessive) or even with there (adverb and noun).
Possessives
John's car, my parents' house etc. Again, pretty straightforward. If it's pronounced like it has two esses, then spell it that way (James's brother) but otherwise don't. The big exception is personal pronouns; we say yours, his, hers, ours, theirs and its (we do however say one's with an apostrophe). Don't confuse it's (contraction of it is or it has) with its (possessive). And don't confuse who's (contraction of who is or who has) with whose (possessive).
Don't use apostrophes for:
Plurals
We say doctors and nurses, patients and porters etc. We also say SHOs, GPs and ENPs etc. Just because it's an abbreviation, that doesn't somehow make it different from other pluralised nouns. We also say the 1980s and 1990s etc, unless you're writing for an American audience, but nobody's perfect!
Enough said, end of lesson, and apologies for clogging bandwidth.
Adrian Fogarty
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