Apostrophe in literature is an arrangement of words addressing a nonexistent person or an abstract idea in such a way as if it were present and capable of understanding feelings. For singular common nouns ending in s, add s unless the next word begins with the letter s. The associated press stylebook provides an az guide to issues such as capitalization, abbreviation, punctuation, spelling, numerals and many other questions of language usage. Here, the singular proper noun johnson has an s added at the end, so that it becomes the plural word johnsons and. In the united states, the leading style guides are the chicago manual of style and the associated press. If possession is ninetenths of the law, just imagine how important correctly signifying it in your writing is. Chris exam scores were higher than any other students. The grammatical use of punctuation is fairly settled. In ap style, if a proper noun ends in s or an s sound, add an apostrophe only. Please check the style guide of whatever format youre using to make sure youre in line with their recommendations. Except for writers who abide by associated press guidelines, apostrophe rules for possessive proper nouns are virtually identical to those for possessive common nouns. Mary norriss thoughts on pesky possessives the new yorker. We took at look at the ap stylebooks section on possessions. The apostrophe is needed here to show plural possessive.
Sep 01, 20 ap the witnesss story did not match the events recorded on tape. Its also possible to make a singular noun with an s ending possessive by adding an apostrophe and another s at the end, as seen above in rule 1 for apostrophes before the letter s. Welcome to ask the editor, a forum on writing, style and phrasing issues that go beyond the pages of the ap stylebook. Its often used by news organizations, magazines, and web publications, but brands often use it to form the basis of their own style guides, too. We took at look at the ap stylebooks section on possessions possessives and exorcised some demons coming up with these guidelines. However, if the name or word itself ends in s for example, dress or ozymandias, then you find yourself in muddier waters. The department prefers bullets, but punctuate them per ap style. If the word already ends in s, simply add an apostrophe to form the possessive. In a contraction, an apostrophe represents missing letters. Apr, 2010 the print edition of the new york times manual of style and usage, written by two esteemed former colleagues, allan m.
If the noun is plural and ends in s, add just an apostrophe the beatles greatest hits. Surnames that end in s require only the but singular names still require the s. The period comes after the g, so its the same for the apostrophe when you drop the g. If youre new to news writing or switching from one to another, youll want to keep this ap cheat sheet handy and. She wants to know why bosss has an apostrophe and an s but chris has only an apostrophe the truth is that chris takes just an apostrophe only if you follow the rules in the the associated press stylebook.
If the apostrophe appears before the letter s then it may denote that the possessive case is singular, i. It is important to remember that, as in our last example above, there is no apostrophe between the figure 30 and the s. Apostrophes and proper nouns grammar and punctuation. Ap reporters write fast, but their stylebook moves slow. The apostrophe may be used for clarity with the plurals of single letters as in minding your ps and qs as and ss use of the apostrophe may be recommended only for lowercase letters. In other style guides, chris takes an apostrophe and an s. For example, i had the best time of my life in my 20s. Writing center quick reference associate press style guide.
Possessives learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Faqs on style the new york times after deadline blog. Like for example different books with their different designs. Associated press style, used by most newspapers, is slightly different. Connolly, can still be bought online and in some bookstores. Chris photograph appears on page 1 of the business section. Sep 04, 2015 to form the possessive of a noun that ends in s, ap style has separate rules for proper names and generic nouns. Walsh becomes walshes, and malkovich becomes malkoviches.
Every day, more than a billion people read, hear or see ap news. If that apostrophe were a single quotation mark, the period would come before it. But just between you and me, you can use this shootfromthehip style in personal email, where you are also free to forgo capitalization completely. An apostrophe after a word usually indicates the possessive the ladies handbags, so if you use fromax, id be looking for his handbag to follow shortly thereafter use fromaxes as the plural or you could use the example of index indices, and go for fromaces. For plurals of a single letter, add s do not use s for plurals of numbers or multiple letter combinations bullets associated press style is to use dashes, not bullets, for lists that follow a colon. Joness document only when the word is plural and possessive do you place the apostrophe outside the s. The style that many of us are accustomed tosimply adding an apostrophe after the s e.
When a singular noun ends in s, you can make is possessive by putting the apostrophe after the s, but you dont have to. Mistaking a stylebook for a rule book baltimore sun. Book style is simultaneously more complex and more consistent. The ap style as it s known in the trade is quite different from the new york times style or chicago manual of style. Pick a style either the book style of writing jamess or the newspaper style of writing james and just use that form consistently. It attempts to provide guidance, rather than blackandwhite rules. Ap and chicago if the word after the noun does not begin. When s is used with any of these words it indicates possession and must be preceded by an apostrophe. Use the letter s but not an apostrophe after the figures when expressing decades or centuries. What follows are summaries of some of the most common style rules. It is the indispensable reference for writers, editors, proofreaders, indexers, copywriters, designers, and publishers, informing the editorial canon with sound, definitive advice. When a plural noun ends in s, place an apostrophe after the s to show possession.
I have also heard other people who will say phonetic the jonesesez ornament or the smithsez ornament especially in the american south. The associated press style is the goto style for journalism and news writing. If it appears after the s, then it will most likely be plural, i. Their practice is that any time a words ends in s, you put an apostrophe after the s to make it possessive. Apostrophe after x creative writing forums writing. It isnt the quantity of the noun singularplural that determines the placement of the apostrophe when forming the possessive. The most common contractions are made up of verbs, auxiliaries, or modals attached to other words.
They say the apostrophe is wrong that it indicates a possessive and should not be used in a plural like this. I oversee an online version that includes many changes and updates since the book s publication in 1999. The chicago manual of style online is the venerable, timetested guide to style, usage, and grammar in an accessible online format. Ap style holds that when referencing ages you should always use figures. Oct 17, 2006 in other style guides, chris takes an apostrophe and an s. However, in the first section, the authors promote the use of s, no matter what the last letter of a word is, to show possessiveness. The best ap style cheat sheet every writer needs free. Those funky special circumstances you see above stuff like bosss word vs. Possessives of nouns ending in s grammar underground. Ap editor david minthorn fields questions of widest interest posed by subscribers to the online ap stylebook. Do, however, use an apostrophe before figures expressing a decade if numerals are left out.
You want to know if it is still the case that charless is grammatically correct, as prescribed by strunk and white over fifty years ago it is the case that charless is still grammatically correct, because writing reflects speech and most native speakers still pronounce the s twice that is not to say that charles is. There are different apostrophe rules for different styles. Roy peter clark settles the possessive apostrophe debate. The ap stylebook has a few simple rules for using quotation marks in ap style stories. The apostrophe has been partnered up with the letter s in a few different roles over the last 500 years, and as with many relationships the goalposts have shifted a little over time if the apostrophe appears before the letter s then it may denote that. To use some examples, the lasss book, the buss timetable, jamess homework, kansass statute, and so on. However, all plural nouns are treated the same as in ap style. The associated press was founded in 1848 as a cooperative effort among six new york newspapers that wished to pool resources for gathering international news. To form the possessive of a noun that ends in s, ap style has separate rules for proper names and generic nouns. Sep 15, 2016 if possession is ninetenths of the law, just imagine how important correctly signifying it in your writing is. The apostrophe with numbers, letters, and abbreviations. Kansas doctors, achilles heel use a possessive form after only the last word if ownership is joint.
The plurals for capital letters and numbers used as nouns are not formed with apostrophes. Every time the associated press stylebook announces a change it. Justice thomas, whose name ends with an s, seems to favor ap style, which recommends leaving off the extra s. However, if its a scary monster, that plural makes it sound too cute.
In short, is it carlos stylebook or carloss stylebook. If the word doesnt end in s, add an apostrophe followed by s to form the possessive. Aug 12, 2019 justice thomas, whose name ends with an s, seems to favor ap style, which recommends leaving off the extra s. Tvs vs tvs and also why does autocorrect always put apostrophes after days of the week. If someone is quoted as saying, im too old to go back to school, the age is relevant.
Oct 26, 2017 the period comes after the g, so its the same for the apostrophe when you drop the g. A number of readers have complained after seeing plural abbreviations like m. Possessive of proper names ending in s daily writing tips. Apostrophes with names ending in s, ch, or z grammar and. Spiralbound book, updated each spring 2019 ap stylebook. So it puzzles me that the ap stylebook, the most influential guide for journalists, argues that a simple apostrophe suffices after proper nouns ending in s. For an ellipsis, ap calls for three periods, with a space before and after. Extra rules and exceptions just make it more confusing. Couples retreat might be plural possessive whereas couples massage is often singular possessive. No exception is made depending on whether singular nouns preceding and following the apostrophe end and start with s, respectively.
Fred and sylvias apartment, fred and sylvias stocks. Sometimes, its called the grocers apostrophe because of how frequently it is spotted in grocery store advertisements 3 oranges for a dollar. For proper names like james, ap says, add an apostrophe only. After each bullet, capitalize the first letter and use periods at the end of. This is one of the areas where a great many people seem to slip up grammatically and where another great horde of people become very irate. For instance, writing the 1960s when referring to that entire decade is. Nonacademic styles, such as ap, suggest simply adding an apostrophe to the end of a word that ends in s. Associated press style is to use dashes, not bullets, for lists that follow a colon. Do not add an apostrophe to a word ending in s when it is used primarily in a descriptive. She smiled, youll want to read this gatehouse newsroom post about how to properly use quotation marks in ap style stories then. In fact, style rules at the times and some other publications, including the chicago manual of style do call for. Deciding whether to use an apostrophe s or just the apostrophe for nouns that end with an s is complicated and depends on whether the noun is singular, plural, or proper.
I have two bachelors degrees and one masters degree. The general rule is that the possessive of a singular noun is formed by adding an apostrophe and s, whether the singular noun ends in s or not. Add apostrophe s unless the next word begins with s. Colon capitalize the first word after a colon only if it is a proper noun or the start of a complete sentence. Ap style states that you should use an apostrophe in bachelors degree and masters degree. Jones ornamant where they dont add an ez to jones when making it possessive in speach. On the other hand, some style manuals and critics suggest that apostrophes should never be used for plurals, even for lower case letters. The apostrophe has been partnered up with the letter s in a few different roles over the last 500 years, and as with many relationships the goalposts have shifted a little over time. Today, with over 3,700 employees in 121 countries, the ap is the worlds single largest news organization. A contraction is a shortened form of a word or group of words that omits certain letters or sounds. For certain terms, like teachers college, style guides have specific rules. If your name ends in s, x, z, ch, or sh, add es to the end.
Oct 28, 2019 so it puzzles me that the ap stylebook, the most influential guide for journalists, argues that a simple apostrophe suffices after proper nouns ending in s. May, 2014 if the noun is plural and ends in s, add just an apostrophe the beatles greatest hits. A common mistake people make is to include apostrophes when pluralizing a number or an abbreviation. For singular common nouns that end in s, both ap and chicago styles use apostrophes. Truss says this usage is no longer considered proper in. Learn the major differences between chicago and ap style guides to. Justice souter seems to prefer the recommendations of the chicago manual of style, which says to add the apostrophes to almost all singular nouns and names that end with s. If a singular proper noun a name ends in s, chicago and ap handle apostrophes differently. Use abbreviations for degrees only when you need to include a list of credentials after a name and set them off with commas. There is a reason this is called a punctuation guide. With very few exceptions, apostrophes do not make nouns plural. Ap the witnesss story did not match the events recorded on tape.
The ap stylebook says to make reference of age when it is deemed relevant to the situation. The 2019 edition of the associated press stylebook and briefing on media law includes more than 200 new or revised entries, with chapters covering data journalism, business, fashion, food, religion and sports terms, as well as media law, news values, punctuation, social media, polls and surveys and a new chapter on health and science. For both ap and chicago style, if a singular noun does not end in s, add s. A good dictionary may also be able to offer you some guidance. Using an unnecessary apostrophe to form the plural of a noun is a very common mistake. For other nouns, youd put just an apostrophe at the end, so if you had a bunch of cats and they had beds, you say that those are the cats beds, or if your parents shared a car, you would say it is your parents car. However, if one of the joint owners is written as a pronoun, use the possessive form for both. If the plural form doesnt end in s, use apostrophe s. The associated press stylebook and briefing on media law official style guide of the associated press, a notforprofit news agency thats been around since 1846. 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.
Use a possessive form after both words if the objects are individually owned. Ap style is kansas chicago manual of style apostrophe rules. But just between you and me, you can use this shootfromthehip style in personal email. The ap style as its known in the trade is quite different from the new york times style or chicago manual of style. Add apostrophe s if singular, and add an apostrophe if plural.
For cases like these, its best to check a comprehensive style guide, such as the chicago manual or the ap stylebook its dos and donts, according to the ap. Here is a sampling of frequently asked questions, with examples of ap style used in answers. Ap style also aims to avoid stereotypes and unintentionally offensive language. Generally, you should use ages in for profiles, obituaries, significant career milestones, and achievements unusual for the age. I just bought the elements of style, an awesome little book. For proper names, you add the apostrophes to the end. Paula, an executive assistant, wrote to ask me to continue the discussion of apostrophes. English literature is replete with instances of apostrophe. Where do you put the apostrophe after names that end in s. Ap rules that proper names such as chris, agnes, and russ take only an apostrophe, like these examples. Sam and mary johnson live in a large house with their two daughters rachel and jenna johnson. After each bullet, capitalize the first letter and use periods at the end of each item.
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