There is so much material on the wonderweb about possessive apostrophes that I find it inconceivable that people still get it wrong. Yet I see it all the time, across all kinds of material, at all levels of supposed writing ability.
There is one news website not a million miles from where I live that might just be in the running for a “Whoops Apostrophe” or “Apostrophe Now” award. I really wish they’d hire me to proof their articles before they post, but I guess money’s too tight to mention.
In the meantime, let’s set out a couple of rules. These are not exhaustive—I’ll include a couple of links at the end if you feel the need for further enlightenment.
Rule One
If you wish to refer to something owned by or associated with a person, group, corporate entity or other owning body, you use a possessive apostrophe.
- Dave’s drums are well-used.
- The Chess Club’s headquarters.
- Ford’s latest gas-guzzling offering.
- The tortoise’s lettuce.
None of these examples make real sense without the apostrophe.
If there was more than one tortoise, then we could refer to the tortoises’ lettuce. Notice that the apostrophe has moved. We now show tortoise in the plural (by adding the “s”) and then indicate that they “own” or are associated with the lettuce by adding the apostrophe.
Rule Two
You do not need an apostrophe to indicate pluralization. The tortoise’s eat lettuce is wrong. The tortoises dance has a different meaning from the tortoise’s dance. The first is a statement—dancing is what tortoises do. (It’s a hypothetical example!) The second could be the name of a very slow dance performed by tortoises, sloths, or amorous teenagers.
Confusion Reigns
Without the apostrophe, meaning isn’t always obvious or clear, as the tortoises dance demonstrates.
Let’s take it one step further. Consider the headline, Tortoises dance to be seen on primetime TV. Here, apparently, two or more tortoises have contrived to perform a dance in order to guarantee that their antics will be shown on television. Pre-meditated dancing by tortoises? I don’t think so.
Tortoise’s dance to be seen on primetime TV. In this subtly different example, the owner of a dancing tortoise has presumably contacted a TV station and has successfully convinced the station to run an item on his talented pet.
Redundancy?
There are those that believe we don’t need the apostrophe, period. Others campaign for its retention.
In the blue corner, we have George Bernard Shaw who argued against “peppering pages with these uncouth bacilli”, and the folks over at killtheapostrophe dot com.
In the red corner, we have John Richards, chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society.
In the audience, we have people who are supporting one side or the other. The cheer’s echo the boos sound loudly in the stadium. (I won’t prolong the metaphor.)
I hope you were confused by “The cheer’s echo the boos sound loudly in the stadium.” There’s definitely something wrong there. Could it be that the apostrophe should have been in “boos” instead of “cheers”?
“The cheers echo the boo’s sound loudly in the stadium.” Better—but is it what was intended?
“The cheers echo; the boos sound loudly in the stadium.” There’s another possibility, and it actually makes a little more sense. The semi-colon helped, but the possessive apostrophe was causing confusion so, “Out damned apostrophe! out I say!”
The cheers and boos sentence isn’t the most natural-sounding example ever written, but it does show how a sentence’s meaning can be confused or clarified with a simple punctuation mark or two.
The Apostrophe Protection Society cites the following as an argument for the possessive apostrophe. (I hope your knowledge of British English is up to snuff!) A sign outside a block of flats says “Residents’ refuse to be put in bins.” Take the apostrophe out and you have a very different statement.
The Long and Short
The possessive apostrophe should be here to stay. It’s another tool for removing ambiguity, and although context can almost always compensate for appalling apostrophe habits, the word “almost” qualifies it for protection from extinction.
Rules of writing are in place to deal with exceptions and to encourage consistency. Poor spelling doesn’t always make a message incomprehensible. A missed comma or period doesn’t always change the meaning of a sentence—sometimes they do though. The reason for learning skills and following rules is so that you use them when it matters as well as when it doesn’t. You learn to control skids in your car for when you need the skill. You take first aid courses so that you’ll know what to do when it matters. The rules of writing aren’t life-or-death matters (unless you’re writing safety procedures in a nuclear power station), but the same principle applies—you learn and apply the rules all the time so that you’ll know what to do when it matters.
Links to Other Material
The following websites have more comprehensive (though less entertaining) information on the possessive apostrophe.
Please Help Improve Yonder Pedant’s Ramblings
- Did I miss a typo? (I’ll feel bad when you tell me, but I’d rather you did tell me!)
- Did I write something that makes you want to turn green and burst out of your shirt?
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