Possessive apostrophes

[proximalhumerous]

Have I inferred correctly that, in cases where a singular noun ends in 's', some people seem to think that putting an apostrophe after the word makes it plural, even if no possession is applied?

For example, "I put all your syllabus' in a drawer."

Or, "All the cactus' are sitting on the windowsill."

In other words a complete misunderstanding of the rule.

I think I find things like this (and the classic "between him and I") more irritating than when people ignore all the rules.

Edit: I mean "implied", not "applied". Oops!

I would say syllabuses and cacti. I suppose syllabi might be correct but sounds silly. Syllabus' is just odd but you could say 'the cactus' prickles' as a possessive.

• Possessive of Singular Nouns Ending in "s": You usually add an apostrophe and an "s" (e.g., the bus's engine, Chris's car). However, for proper nouns, especially longer ones or those ending in a sibilant sound, sometimes just an apostrophe is used for the possessive (e.g., Dickens' novels, for goodness' sake).

• Possessive of Plural Nouns Ending in "s": You add only an apostrophe (e.g., the students' desks, the Joneses' house).(plural)

The single apostrophe at the end ("s'") is specifically for showing the possessive form of a plural noun that already ends in "s".

Not sure if I said that well. I’m not even sure I’m answering the question. I’ll try again😂

When making a possessive noun plural and it already ends in “s”, you usually just add an apostrophe at the end—you do not add another “s.”

Examples:

• The students’ books (more than one student, the books belong to them)
• The Joneses’ house (the house belonging to the Jones family)
• The dogs’ leashes (more than one dog)

However, style guides differ slightly:

• AP Style (used in journalism): Just add the apostrophe (e.g., the boss’ office)
• Chicago Manual of Style: Usually prefers ’s even after an “s” (e.g., the boss’s office), unless it’s a plural possessive (then it’s just s’)

i Am not sure if the people you are referring to are using possessive nouns in the context I mentioned.

Yes, I agree with you, OP, this is where the misunderstanding arises. The 'grocer's apostrophe' is what it is often called, eg potato's, carrots', outside a shop where fruit and veg are on sale. In other words apostrophes all over the place when there were none needed in the first place. Personally I have grown to enjoy spotting them

Thanks for the replies, but I'm not sure anyone has addressed the point I'm making!

In my examples, singular nouns are being used erroneously as plurals, as if simply adding an apostrophe renders them plural. However a) the plural form is incorrect ("syllabus" is not the plural of "syllabus" - it's syllabi or syllabuses - and "cactus" is not the plural of "cactus") and b) the apostrophe is redundant as there is no possession implied.

So it's not just that the apostrophe isn't needed (as in "tomato's" but that it seems the user thinks they have an effect that they don't have.

Also, surely no-one in Pedants' Corner needs to be told what a grocer's apostrophe is!

A fellow teacher had this on her classroom notice board.

My point is that they're not possessive nouns; they're just plurals.

The single apostrophe at the end ("s'") is specifically for showing the possessive form of a plural noun that already ends in "s".
James' book isn't incorrect and neither is James's book.

Also, surely no-one in Pedants' Corner needs to be told what a grocer's apostrophe is!
Pedants' corner has occasional non-pedant visitors.

OP is correct. It's just bollock's.

@proximalhumerous , go to Baby names threads and they mention lots of Archie's, Arthur's, Olivia's and Ava's.

Great username!

Painful! Not to mention the myriad references to "[supposedly singular] babies first Christmas".

Edit: not quite sure why I'm getting a line break after the inverted commas...

OP - I think you’re asking about using apostrophes to indicate a missing letter, rather than possessive apostrophes. Am I correct? Hopefully someone knowledgable will come on and let us know if they can be used in this way.

Thanks. I was PedantScorner (which I thought was brilliant but meant I got a lot of negativity) but I managed to lock myself out, thus losing all my smarty pants usernames.

I joined MN a long time ago but no longer have the e-mail account I used then.

@thinkfast , OP was commenting on people using a apostrophe after an S, mistakenly thinking it would indicate a plural, something like Thomas' to mean several individuals all called Thomas.

Apostrophes indicate a missing letter or a possessive.
For example,
Their's (something belonging to them)
They're (they are)

Not sure why people keep misinterpreting my OP... Perhaps it isn't very clear. Anyway, I don't someone "knowledgeable" to come along - I already know you can't use an apostrophe like that!

Did you mean to write "Their's"?

I don't know the grammatical term for this group of words (i.e. mine, his, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs), but they don't use apostrophes.

I believe they are possessive pronouns.

Ok, here's an example that should be clearer:

I waited for ages and then three bus' came along one after the other.

This would suggest that the writer thinks you can make "bus" plural by using an apostrophe, instead of the actual plural; "buses".

There is also clearly no possession implied in the sentence.

That sounds right, but I was trying to differentiate between my and mine, her and hers, etc.

I understand it thus.
My and her are possessive adjectives because they need a noun to go with them.
Mine and hers are not followed by a noun so are possessive pronouns.
Just to be difficult his can act as both.
It's his bike (adjective)
That bike is his (pronoun)

Well there are two uses of an apostrophe that I am aware of:

1. to indicate possession;
2. to indicate a missing letter in a contraction.

I think in the example you’re talking about, people are misusing number 2 above, it’s nothing to do with possession.

I understand what you mean - your original post was clear - and I have seen this too.

It’s essentially the same error as including a grocer’s apostrophe before the s in a plural e.g. carrot’s, but somehow even worse.

OP, I never cease to be amazed by what a mess people get into over apostrophes. Why anyone would think that adding an apostrophe makes a word plural I have no idea - but people really do extraordinary things with grammar (or lack of it) - there are examples on here every day, but also in comments on reputable newspapers. I have told my children that as far as apostrophes are concerned, “if in doubt, leave it out” - you will be judged far more harshly for a misplaced apostrophe than for not putting one.