People who don't know how to use apostrophes....

[itsaich]

I hope someone can enlighten me. I know there are lots of you out there who don't actually know what an apostrophe is for but use them anyway. I'm just curious to hear why you use them when you do?

I've seen people for instance write something like

I went to the shop's to buy sweets.

Why would you put the apostrophe in the word "shops"? But not "sweets"?

I know you have rules, I just want to know what they are. Or do you just kind of think 'huh, a little line would look nice there' and plop one in for good measure?

Do you maybe just stick them places because you think 'must be time for an apostrophe'?

Enlighten me please.

Well why do people on here continue to use loose instead of lose? Could of instead of could have?
Poor education, laziness, autocorrect, who knows?

I don't know because I know someone who uses "should of" and I've pointed it out to them a few times because they're at uni and I thought it would look bad but they carry on saying "would of"

I wonder what people think "would of" means but that's a whole other issue.

People try to say "I'm a part of this project" but say "I'm apart of this project" which sounds like they mean they are apart from it.

I wonder what happens when those people need to say they are apart from something and whether they get confused at that point.

I wonder if people just didn't get good teaching grammar at school - that's definitely improved now.

I just think @itsaich , that many don't understand apostrophes , it's not that they think 'Oh, I'll just pop one in there'. They copy what they see as they think it's correct.

For instance , your sentence 'I'll go to the shop's and buy sweets' . They may have read something like 'The shop's open'' so think an apostrophe is needed when they use that particular word.
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Your example, I meant!

I think I've a reasonable grasp on the use of apostrophes but my phone's autocorrect just loves adding them in all over the place.

I think you’re right here.

lots of people don’t read very much that isn’t on social media. So the written English they’re seeing is often crap. And that shapes their understanding of how it should be written.

I think a lot of the time if people have never been taught the correct use, or have forgotten the rules, they add an apostrophe when they feel it looks right. Often this will be in words that they recall seeing an apostrophe in (which may be from other people misusing them, or the word used in a different context) or where it looks a bit strange without one. In the examples given by pps above this would explain the apostrophe in 'Wednesday's' (which may have been seen written in the context of 'Wednesday's meeting' etc meaning the meeting on Wednesday) but not in 'sweets'. I think this also explains all the apostrophes after acronyms (eg SAT's rather than SATs) where it just seems to look better.

This is why I think it's incredibly important that schools are really careful about using the correct grammar in displays/letters/teacher comments. I have been in to a school with a notice on the door of a room where a test was taking place that read 'Quiet please, SAT's in progress'. So the last thing pupils about to take a grammar test saw was a misplaced apostrophe. I know there is an argument that grammar is not important as long as the meaning is understood but if we are going to teach this to our children and test them on it it's really unfair and confusing if they don't see it modelled correctly in school. [rant over, I'm not an arsehole]

@pantsofshame, please don't apologise for saying that the teaching matters and that the example set by schools should be correct. Grammar is important. If grammar doesn't matter then I can say, "He should give £1000 to her", when I mean to say, "I should give £1000 to you."

I find asking them to say the sentence in a different way can help or saying the full words.

Eg If it is doesn't make sense in the sentence then it's is wrong.

Posted too soon.
Then you eliminate some basic errors in many contractions and are left with the possessive thing and God knows how to teach that.

Personally i believe that the use of correct grammar is such a sad brag. Simply by comparing your grammar or questioning the grammar that others use sets a false sense of superiority and snobbishness in todays society. Correcting or pointing out someones grammar mistakes doesn't make you a more intelligent person and it further proves the middle class lower class debate in how middle class children seem more intelligible even though we're all human. We're not as reliant on grammar because of modern technology however if you still understand what is being said why bother using correct grammar.

Because everyone knows an apostrophe means 'look out, here comes an 's''

I’ve also noticed this and wondered why people aren’t consistent with their misuse and how they decide which words merit a random apostrophe.

I have noticed that they are very often used for a plural when the word ends in a vowel (so, for example, apple’s or bike’s for sale). and especially when the plural should end with -es (e.g tomatoes or potatoes become tomato’s and potato’s). Perhaps for some people they don’t know or remember the -es plural form so think an apostrophe is needed after the vowel.

However it’s not exclusive and it’s certainly not consistent.

Can I ask a question? If your name is Chris and you own a house, is it “Chris’s house” or “Chris’ house”? Because I saw the latter the other day and didn’t know if it was an error or you were supposed to drop an “s”?

It’s is scary posting here! How funny I had no idea I lacked confidence to this degree.

Chris’ house.

Personally i believe that the use of correct grammar is such a sad brag.

So all rules are made to be broken?

No need for rules in football or cricket.
Use any old measures when you're baking.
Why care about pattern repeats when you are hanging wallpaper or making curtains.
Why not have an extra syllable, or two, in a pentameter.
Accept sounds so similar to except - why bother to differentiate.

Who cares if it makes sense or not?

Can’t answer your question @itsaich , but I wanted to say that your use of ellipse (ellipsis?) in the title is fine, in my opinion, as it’s clearly conveying meaning rather than simply a mistake. I think it’s okay to play a bit rough and ready if it’s your own style. It’s when you are putting meaningless or incorrect punctuation and grammar (cf rogue “whoms” and the mysterious use of “yourself” instead of “you”) that I think it becomes a bit grating.

I personally dislike rogue apostrophes, but I’m pretty resigned to them by now, but I do find it a bit depressing when I find them in my kids’ school reports (written by their teachers!).

I think most people can make sense of it @FlowerArranger . I do think it’s a way of putting people down like clothing can be. I don’t mind it though. I do my best and carry on. The vast majority of the world are better at punctuation and grammar than I am. I have my own gifts.

My grandmother, who grew up in a two room tenement in the 1920s, had excellent grammar, spoken and written. Some people, irrespective of their class, put a premium on the ability to communicate efficiently and clearly.

Your grandmother wasn’t living in an age or social media where most of her written communication (and the book of her reading material) comes through that.

if she were only really seeing stuff about how they should of got some potato’s at the shop, her written English might have been very different.

Then there’s autocorrect to contend with as a factor 🤣

I don't know how to use them so I leave them out altogether.

Unless it is like 'it is' - I know to shorten that to 'it's'.

I'm a qualified professional and could learn if I wanted to but it just doesn't seem important to me. I solve massive issues at work and as long as I do that, clients and colleagues dont care if I leave out apostrophes.

I know lots of young people raised in the age of social media whose English is perfectly good.

I totally understand this view, as many grammar mistakes really don't make any difference or change meaning.

But the rub is that some DO. In many contexts it can change the whole meaning if the sentence: (and I bet I make some mistake sin this too!)

Let's eat Grandpa
Let's eat, Grandpa

The doctor noted down the people present: the patient, his brother, his parents Jane Smith and Joe Smith.
The doctor noted down the people present: the patient, his brother, his parents Jane Smith, and Joe Smith.

Some people find inspiration in cooking their families and their dogs.
Some people find inspiration in cooking, their families, and their dogs.

So many people cannot use you're. And when I read a sentence with your instead of you're I often have to read it several times to check the meaning, and sometimes it isn't clear.
I received a thank you text the other day with no commas in it and it completely changed the meaning of the text, I could have been really offended. Only because I knew the person sending it and their intention that I mentally inserted the commas.