Apostrophe hell.

[marshmallowfinder]

I keep seeing the incorrect use of apostrophes in dates, for example 'the 90's.'

It should be '90s. The apostrophe indicates the missing characters. It does NOT have one before the letter s. The apostrophe is so misused...sob! Can we do anything?

Also correct is DS' book.

You could get away with saying "James's" but the written form is James'.

Family is a singular noun.
Scott family is a singular noun.
All the members of the Scott family - the Scotts - constitute a plural noun.
Their car is "the Scotts' car".

Autocorrect fought me over this.

Sorry, wrong. If the Scotts own a car, it's the Scotts' car.

I've never understood why some posters will type out a list, incorrectly apostrophise one plural in it, and not see the obvious wrongness right in front of them.

"Hey all you mums and dad's and grandparents out there ... '

" I'm a great animal lover and have two cats, three dog's and a tortoise ...'

Yes you can do something about it. The OP can write to her MP and he/she can raise the subject in the House. Mind you if her MP is Liz Truss she will blame it on the deep state or 'woke' people

No, either is correct.

There used to be a children's clothing shop near me. 'Kid's Classic's'

I used to write and say James' until it was pointed out to me that there's St. James's Park in London. So now I accept and use either.

I have said this on threads before. I wish the government would make a law which says that the last five minutes before the evening news on BBC and ITV should be a quick lesson on grammar/spelling/arithmetic, deliberately advertised as being for all ages. They can always cut five minutes for party political broadcasts. The same could be done for revision of basics and indicate that there are MPs who really do think education matters.

So true

And to my horror my child, who I know is only young, puts apostrophes in for no reason at all!

I cringe every time!

Exactly this. Would you say 'The Scott is coming to dinner' or The Scotts are coming to dinner'?

You are incorrect. If it ends with an S the apostrophe goes after the S.

For a plural - no. For a possessive, yes.

The Smiths live at number 2

The Smith's house is lovely.

No, I am not incorrect. Both are acceptable.

@SnakesAndArrows Liz doesn't end with an S though, so the rule still applies. And you don't say Liss for Liz, do you?

For anyone questioning grammar or similes etc, here's what Charles Dickens had to say about it-

"Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of Ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail."

😊😊

Saw a fast food outlet today with a sign saying 'Fast Fire'd Pizza'. Sigh.

@baileybrosbuildingandloan

"The Smiths live at number 2

The Smith's house is lovely."

No, it's "The Smiths' house is lovely." Presumably the house belongs to the Smiths, not the Smith. Unless you mean a smith (archaic-sounding, but possible I suppose), in which case "the smith's house is lovely" would be correct.

Er, no.

Lis and Liz are pronounced exactly the same.

Regardless of whether you write the possessive as Liz’ or Liz’s, Lis’ or Lis’s (the latter three are correct, the apostrophe at the end is an anomaly use only for nouns that end in s) you would pronounce all possessives above as “Lizes”. Surely? You would not pronounce “Lis’ book” as “Liz book”.

My use of Liz/Lis as an example is because you pronounce both of them the same - as a proper noun and its possessive - yet one of them does not get a final s after the apostrophe, according to some grammar guides, and some posters on this thread.

I was taught if you pronounce the possessive of a word or name ending in s as es then you put 's at the end (not sure I'm expressing that clearly so examples below). University of Sussex agrees and uses these examples: Thomas's job, the bus's arrival, James's fiancee, Steve Davis's victory. So I don't think James' is correct in the written form as someone has said as you'd read it in your head or out loud as Jameses, i.e. James's.

Other examples where it is just s' and not s's are Socrates' philosophy and Ulysses' companions as you wouldn't read these names and say Socrateses or Ulysseses either in your brain or out loud.

I'm really tired so hope I haven't made some error here. I don't think Liz' is correct as it ends in z not s. It should be Liz's.

I also think the Scotts' house or car is right and not the Scott's.

@KarlaKK That's exactly what I was taught!

What about:

• ’90’s fashion

• The ’90’s trends in energy policy

• I remember the ‘90’s long summers fondly

They’d be ok wouldn’t they?

As for the socks that James owns, they’re definitely James’s socks.

All of those 90's examples are wrong.