In his book troublesome words, author bill bryson lambastes tesco for this. Author of the original blue book of grammar and punctuation. Apostrophes are often mistakenly omitted in common expressions such as at arms length and at wits end. Apostrophes punctuation rules the blue book of grammar. Exercises to improve your english writing skills whether youre a native speaker of english or an advanced esl student, these exercises will help you identify and. Attractively designed and wellwritten, the book is indeed a good attempt to demystify the intricacies of grammar and punctuation. These two contractions are notorious grammar villains. Our blog capitalization of academic degrees addresses this by citing. Are you confused about how to show the plural and the possessive of certain names. Note the italicization, bolding, and highlighting used for emphasis in the examples on this page singular possessive.
Why we say bachelors and masters for degrees english lessons. However, many current style manuals recommend italicizing book titles and magazine names impossible to do on a typewriter and using quotation marks around articles. See rules 1b and 1c of apostrophes for more discussion. Apostrophes an apostrophe is primarily used as part of a word with the letter s to show possession or to indicate that letters in a contraction have been omitted. In english, the apostrophe plus s forms the possessive singular of all nouns and the possessive plural of all nouns not ending in s. The blue book of grammar and punctuation is an easytouse reference guide and workbook and lives up to its description. I mens health was an issue in the federal election. A common error in our writing is using the apostrophe or not using it. Grammar checkers will not help you much with your apostrophes. General references, such as bachelors, masters or doctoral degree, are not capitalized. If a name ends in ch, but is pronounced with a hard k sound, its.
Also, the word masters is not an adjective, so it cannot describe students. It is used to show when one noun possesses another noun. Well go over all three, and ill give you examples of each one. Make a plural noun possessive by adding an apostrophe. If you want to teach or learn grammar the easy way, follow our stepbystep program that clearly lays everything out and allows you to move at your own pace. How to reference books and articles in text before computers, we used typewriters to underline book titles, and we placed quotation marks around article titles.
Using an apostrophe to show plurals of numbers, letters, and figures is optional. For example, harry potter and the sorcerers stone is italicized because it is a book. Ap prefers adding only an apostrophe charles book, whereas cmos. All worksheets are free for individual and noncommercial use. Jensens grammar lessons and exercises were built with three concepts in mind. Mar 01, 2016 apostrophes and possessive nouns, part 2. Feb 20, 2014 grammar use of apostrophe if this is your first visit, be sure to check out the faq by clicking the link above. General references, such as bachelor s, master s or doctoral degree, are not capitalized. Apr 07, 2014 while writing possessives, the position of the apostrophe depends on whether the noun is singular or plural.
There are conflicting policies and theories about how to show possession when writing such nouns. Students practice what theyve learned at the end of the book. If so, does it have an apostrophes or an sapostrophe. In addition to being a punctuation mark, an apostrophe is a figure of speech in which some absent or nonexistent person or thing is addressed as if present and capable. Richard nordquist is professor emeritus of rhetoric and english at georgia southern university and the author of several universitylevel grammar and composition textbooks. In honour of the bad grammar awards, we asked readers to share examples of grammatical gaffes by institutions or people who should know better and you sent in more than a few rogue apostrophes. This book will work well in combination with almost any basic grammar and usage text. In a phrase such as planning programs for masters students, is masters a possessive. Heres the lowdown on when to use an apostropheand other apostrophe rules you need to know.
A putative grammar outrage blew up a week ago in britain when the conservativedominated mid devon district council announced plans to abolish the apostrophe. Nov 04, 2010 the punctuation mark is called apostrophe. Apostrophe english grammar today cambridge dictionary. The s indicates the work of possessive apostrophes. The masters and clerks dinner, and where should the apostrophes.
A brief description of the worksheets is on each of the worksheet widgets. With irregular plurals, the apostrophe comes after the plural form and before the s. While that may sound simple enough, many people are baffled by the little squiggle. Children is plural and so the apostrophe should come after the s.
If the noun is singular, the apostrophe goes before the s. Grammar quiz all things grammar grammar focus possessive s and s level intermediate answer key my notes 1. Showing possession is another component of the apostrophes job description. Thats why the correct way to spell masters degree is with an apostrophe its the degree of a master. Here is a collection of our printable worksheets for topic quotation marks apostrophes of chapter punctuation in section grammar. Add an apostrophe and an s to show the possessive case of most singular and plural nouns. As a rule, a whole publication should be italicized. With very few exceptions, apostrophes do not make nouns plural.
Apostrophes are punctuation marks used to indicate possession. Being an apostrophe lingua franca blogs the chronicle. The confusion comes from the word degree being left out so often that the word masters is thought of as an adjective specifying what kind of students, rather than a modifier for degree. Chapter 11 apostrophe this article is about chapter 11 apostrophe enjoy your reading. Apostrophes punctuation rules grammar and punctuation. Looking for a signs of wear to disqualify the issue as mint, sheldon inspected the comic b booksc corners and spine. The marking of the omission of one or more letters as in the contraction of do. You are correct that an apostrophe does often indicate a possesive when accompanied by an s at the end of a word. When it comes to abbreviating academic degrees, youd better check the style book that governs your work. A comprehensive guide for every writer, editor, student, and businessperson. Grammarquizzes more writing aids punctuation apostrophes.
While writing possessives, the position of the apostrophe depends on whether the noun is singular or plural. How to reference books and articles in text grammar and. Choose the correct evaluation of each underlined word. Feb 17, 2004 the word degree is just left out because of verbal laziness. The lettereating tiny elf named apostrophe uses his powers to gift characters with possessions in this clever minibook that teaches about punctuation. You hold someone at the length of your arm singular, but are at the end of your wits plural. On a resume, it would be preferable to write master of arts or master s degree.
Jul 24, 2019 an apostrophe is a mark of punctuation used to identify a noun in the possessive case or indicate the omission of one or more letters from a word. Maybe you know to write i met the smiths, i drove brenda smiths ferrari, and i visited the smiths house. May 17, 2016 apostrophes are often mistakenly omitted in common expressions such as at arms length and at wits end. Use an apostrophe in the position the omitted letters would have occupied, not where the. To show the plural of a name that ends with a ch, s, or z sound, add es. This sort of this sort of contraction is considered to be informal, however, and should not be. Academic degrees are capitalized only when the full name of the degree is used, such as bachelor of arts or master of social work. Click on the images to view, download, or print them. Apostrophes are used to form plurals of letters that appear in lowercase. Apostrophes grammar and mechanics academic guides at. The apostrophe comes after the possessor or possessors and is. If there are more than one errors, separate corrected words with a space and a hyphen as in the examples. Ours should have an apostrophe between the r and s. Note that the position of the apostrophe before or after the s depends on whether the word is a plural form ending in s.
In my previous post on apostrophes and possessive nouns, we looked at possessive nouns. To show possession with a singular noun, add an apostrophe plus the letter s. Use masters with an apostrophe to talk about degrees unless youre writing for a publication that has chosen to use masters dont capitalize master unless youre speaking about a specific degree e. With degrees and titles to set off interrupting expressions with weak and strong clauses. To use an apostrophe to create a contraction, place an apostrophe where the omitted letters would go. The apostrophe is used to show 1 possessives of nouns and some pronouns, 2 contractions, and 3 some plurals.
If the noun is plural, the apostrophe usually goes after the s. You will probably find it most helpful to give students a brief lesson in the. The apostrophe or character is a punctuation mark, and sometimes a diacritical mark, in languages that use the latin alphabet and some other alphabets. To show singular possession of a name ending in s or z, some writers add just an apostrophe. Many common nouns end in the letter s lens, cactus, bus, etc. English grammar apostrophes proper apostrophe usage 1.
To answer this question, ive consulted the mla handbook for writers of research papers, and some university dissertation guidelines. Clerks dinner masters and clerks dinner masters and clerks dinner. Check your answers with the interactive version of. Note that the apostrophe s is not used with master of arts or bachelor of arts, but is used with. If a person becomes a passive viewer, this is the individuals fault rather than the tv programs. He holds a master of fine arts from state university.
Apostrophe s rules as possessive s and as contracted ishas exercise decide what it stands for. An apostrophe is a mark of punctuation used to identify a noun in the possessive case or indicate the omission of one or more letters from a word. Fairly intensifiers very, at all much, a lot, lots, a good deal. Write the correct form of the words in the boxes below.
When contractions are used, the apostrophe replaces the letter or letters that were removed to make a shorter word. An apostrophe is a punctuation mark used to show possession or to show the omission of letters. Speaking generically, you would write master s degree. This note is one of a series placed in the almanac for the guidance of livery. Explaining why bachelors and masters have an s at the end, to describe degrees, and whether they should have an apostrophe. Thats why the correct way to spell masters degree is with an apostropheits the degree of a master. Speaking generically, you would write masters degree.
Graduate student with two masters degrees and plenty of. General references, such as bachelors, master s or doctoral degree, are not capitalized. Academic degrees writing style guide western michigan. The blue book of grammar and punctuation an easytouse guide with clear rules, realworld examples. The titles of sections within a larger publication or of smaller works such as poems, short stories, named chapters, journal papers, newspaper articles, tv show episodes, editorial sections of websites. I suggested that the correct spelling of these treats should be minis. But what if the name is sanchez or church or williams. To use an apostrophe to create a contraction, place an apostrophe where the omitted letter s would go. Speaking of a specific degree, you would capitalize master. Add an apostrophe and an s to the last word of a compound noun to form the possessive. Sometimes, its called the grocers apostrophe because of how frequently it is spotted in grocery store advertisements 3 oranges for a dollar. When someone is awarded a masters degree, they are recognized as having sufficient knowledge in a field of study to be called a master of it. Read more on apostrophes replacing letters using apostrophes in unusual plurals the first thing to say about this topic is that apostrophes are not normally used to show plurals, and lots of your readers will hate it if you use an apostrophe for this purpose. Contractions are common in speaking and in informal writing.
Capitalization of academic degrees grammar and punctuation. Make sure the apostrophe is placed where the letter s have been omitted and not between the two words. Using an unnecessary apostrophe to form the plural of a noun is a very common mistake. In actual practice, we see a variety of deviations from these principles, especially on signs in public localities. In the above examples, the possessive is made by adding an apostrophe plus an s to. I recently questioned a major food companys spelling on one of their product labels.
482 864 612 920 849 1581 518 1595 1546 968 497 686 1295 545 55 815 1449 1413 254 588 1194 1581 1177 1215 452 196 1326 1145 776 277 728 578 1475 818