Everything you need to know about this little mark. A portion of rule 1, apostrophes, will state, many common nouns end in the letter s lens, cactus, bus, etc. The blue book of grammar and punctuation is a concise, entertaining workbook and guide to english grammar, punctuation, and usage. Brian gets irritated when he sees signs advertising cds for sale with it written cdapostrophes. Possession singular possession plural possession with names ending in s with. I dont care whether its james or john, jones or smith. There are conflicting policies and theories about how to show possession when writing such nouns. Sometimes, its called the grocers apostrophe because of how frequently it is spotted in grocery store advertisements 3 oranges for a dollar. English rules the blue book of grammar and punctuation. However, if the name or word itself ends in s for example, dress or ozymandias, then you find yourself in. With plural nouns ending in s, add an apostrophe after the s.
Use a comma to separate contrasting parts of a sentence. Gen wrote in about the same thing, feeling a sense of horror after seeing cds written with an apostrophe in the new york times. More than one soldier, apostrophe and no additional s james book was blue. All it takes is the blue book of grammar and punctuation. Correct grammar and punctuation are key to making a good impression. For example, the associated press ap stylebook is a guide specific for news media and journalists while the chicago manual of style cms is used by many book publishers and writers. Making an irregular plural noun possessive when it does not end in s is very simple. The pepins house is the big blue one on the corner. Grammar and punctuation the blue book of grammar and. Their practice is that any time a words ends in s, you put an apostrophe after the s to make it possessive. A revised and updated new edition of the bestselling workbook and grammar guide. To show possession with a singular noun, add an apostrophe plus the letter s. Apostrophes quiz 1 the blue book of grammar and punctuation. The logic is that all names should be treated the same.
With plural nouns not ending in s, add an apostrophe and s. One james, then the apostrophe, and you dont need another s although you could add one because james is singular the sheeps wool was white. This handy workbook is ideal for teachers, students in middle school through college, esl students, homeschoolers, and professionals. The best grammar and punctuation books recommended by mark nichol. The blue book of grammar and punctuation 11th edition. Many common nouns end in the letter s lens, cactus, bus, etc. Apostrophes the blue book of grammar and punctuation.
The location of the apostrophe clues an educated reader about numbers. Apostrophe english grammar today a reference to written and spoken english grammar and usage cambridge dictionary. Various situations in possessives grammar call for a few seemingly tricky rules. If the word doesnt end in s, add an apostrophe followed by s to form the possessive.
To create their possessive, simply add an apostrophe after the s. This userfriendly resource includes simple explanations of grammar, punctuation, and usage. If the word already ends in s, simply add an apostrophe to form the possessive. An apostrophe is also used to form the plurals of letters and digits. The blue book of grammar and punctuation object case objective. More than one cat, then the apostrophe and you dont need another s the soldiers co was awarded the dsm. Sam and mary johnson live in a large house with their two daughters rachel and jenna johnson.
Add an apostrophe then the s just as if it were a singular noun like this. Most newspapers and magazines drop theoxford comma in a simple. What sets this great book apart is the 40 pages of quizzes. Apostrophe english grammar today cambridge dictionary. The best grammar and punctuation books five books expert. Constitution but constitutional, the electoral college, department of agriculture.
In february 2014, a new edition of the blue book of grammar and punctuation will be issued. This is james book, and this is actually a really good one because some people will say you cant say. When a plural noun ends in s, place an apostrophe after the s to show possession. Grammar geek mark nichol, a writer at daily writing tips, picks five of the best grammar and punctuation books, and tells us why bad grammar leads to anarchy. When it comes to legal writing, the ap stylebook holds little sway. Apostrophes are no longer used to form plurals of years. Jennifer lopezs music, the witnesss report, jamess poetry one exception to this rule is to add only an apostrophe when adding the apostrophe plus s makes the word difficult to pronounce. There are conflicting policies and theories about how to show possession when writing.
Use an apostrophe and s to show the plural of a letter. Apostrophes with names ending in s, ch, or z grammar and. The blue book of grammar and punctuation leans towards usage rules in cms along with other authoritative texts and does not attempt to conform to the ap stylebook, which differs significantly in some aspects. The blue book of grammar and punctuation flashcards quizlet. With possessive pronouns such as his, hers, and ours. To show plural possession of a word ending in an s or s sound, form the plural first. The blue book of grammar and punctuation will amuse you while demystifying the rules of grammar and punctuation. Thanks again to lester and tom, who recently released a new edition of the blue book of grammar and punctuation. The apostrophe probably causes more grief than all of the other punctuation marks put together. To form the possessive of a singular noun that does end in s or an s sound, add an apostrophe plus s to the noun. The book, common sense or more specifically the authorship of the book, belongs equally to lederer and shore, so only the second name, shore, takes the apostrophe and s. The apostrophe in contractions the most common use of apostrophes in english is for contractions, where a noun. The plurals for capital letters and numbers above nine do not require apostrophes, but some use them anyway. Start studying the blue book of grammar and punctuation ch.
However, if one of the joint owners is written as a pronoun, use the possessive form for both. Here, the singular proper noun johnson has an s added at the end, so that it becomes the plural word johnsons and. Joness document only when the word is plural and possessive do you place the apostrophe outside the s. The blue book of grammar and punctuation, eleventh edition. Using an unnecessary apostrophe to form the plural of a noun is a very common mistake. Grammar rules the blue book of grammar and punctuation. Decide whether the apostrophe s is possessive s or it stands for hasis. But if the apostrophe comes after the s, we understand that many dogs have a variety of leashes.
This is particularly common when the letters are written in the small case. For clarity, most writers use apostrophes with single capital letters and singledigit numbers. When the last comma in a series comes before and or or after daughterinlaw in theabove example, it is known as the oxford comma. For each of the following, choose the correct sentence. If youre talking about something that belongs to him, always add apostrophe s. By contrast, when two or more nouns separately possess something, add an apostrophe to each noun listed. Omit the s after the apostrophe when a word ends in two sibilant sounds the ch, j, s. Write the correct form of the words in the boxes below. The rules for using an apostrophe to show plural forms are. The apostrophe is used to show 1 possessives of nouns and some pronouns, 2 contractions, and 3 some plurals.
No one writing handbook or grammar guide should suffice for careful writers, and though jane strauss the blue book of grammar and punctuation is less comprehensive than some other resources, its largeformat workbook approach provides a readerfriendly introduction to the intricacies of proper prose straus was still a college student when she began her career as a writing consultant for. It isnt the quantity of the noun singularplural that determines the placement of the apostrophe when forming the possessive. Provides an online resource for grammar and punctuation usage with lessons, quizzes, and an optional test to evaluate the understanding of the material. Grammar and vocab challenge learn while challenging others get listed on the leaderboard get e. The blue book of grammar and punctuation is filled with easytounderstand rules, realworld examples, dozens of reproducible exercises, and pre and posttests. Apostrophes with words ending in s grammar and punctuation. When one of the coowners is written as a pronoun, use possessive adjectives my, your, her, our, their. The ultimate flowchart to using apostrophes infographic. With very few exceptions, apostrophes do not make nouns plural. Apostrophes punctuation rules blue book of grammar. While normal people wonder about apostrophes in general, believe it or not, word nerds have heated arguments over whether to use an additional s with singular possession rule 1. An apostrophe can be used to show that one thing belongs to or is connected to something.
With over 200,000 copies sold, this is one of the most highly trusted english language resources available. Check your results by clicking on submit worksheet subject explanations. If the apostrophe appears before the letter s then it may denote that the possessive case is singular, i. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. American libraries canadian libraries universal library community texts project gutenberg biodiversity heritage library childrens library open library featured. Written without jargon for all of us who need simple answers to our everyday questions, this new, updated version has 50% more materialrules, exercises, tests, and answersand a new cover that is both sleek and durable. If there are more than one errors, separate corrected words with a space and a hyphen as in the examples.
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