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Category Archives: apostrophes
Weekly Diigo Bookmarks (weekly)
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A Close Reading of Shakespeare On Your Feet -Folger Shakespeare Library
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5 Different Ways To Generate Ideas Using Brainstorming Apps
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Weekly Diigo Bookmarks (weekly)
Weekly Diigo Bookmarks (weekly)
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Beyond books: what it takes to be a 21st century librarian | Guardian careers | guardian.co.uk
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100 Google Search Tricks for the Savviest of Students | Online College Courses
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
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Seth’s Blog: Bill James and you
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We need to understand how we’re predicting the future if we’re abandoning the idea of using the past as a guide.
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Stick Figure Hamlet – The Greatest Work of Literature in Human History… Now With Pictures
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How my students started using Evernote – Education Series « Evernote Blogcast
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Test-Taking Cements Knowledge Better Than Studying, Researchers Say – NYTimes.com
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Weekly Diigo Bookmarks (weekly)
Weekly Diigo Bookmarks (weekly)
Thomas Needs an Apostrophe
Location: Riverside Drive Burger King parking lot; Danville, VA
Picture taken: February 2008
Textual representation of image: “Thomas Taxi”
Finally, we got a picture of this one! The taxi-sign debacle was one of the very first errors we saw that made us say, We really should take a picture of that! Mr. Hawke reminded me of this as we were looking through the folder full of Grammar Police pictures I haven’t yet posted.
To my knowledge, Thomas’ Taxi was for a long time the only taxi service in our relatively small city. (City-Data.com cites a July 2006 population of 45,586, down 5.8 percent since 2000.) To be completely upfront, though, my knowledge of the taxi services in Danville doesn’t run deep. Other than seeing the cars around town, I’ve called a taxi two or three times for (too-drunk-to-drive) patrons of restaurants I worked in years ago. Oh, and one of the bartenders at one restaurant always used the taxi service to get to and from work. That’s about it.
But there’s no getting around the fact that Thomas’ Taxi is in desperate need of an editor. The sign on the car above is only one of the two poorly worded signs on cars around town. The other one, which I will get pictures of if I’m ever able, is much more nose-crinkling: “Thoma’s Taxi.” :P
Onward to the problem! The sign on our picture here is clearly missing an apostrophe. The word “Thomas,” a proper noun referring to a person (last name or first? I’m not sure…), and the “Taxi” belongs to this person. The apostrophe, which should follow the final s, shows possession. Since the word Thomas ends in s already, we just need to add an apostrophe.
Rule: To make a noun ending in s possessive, add an apostrophe. (And to make a noun ending in anything else possessive, add an apostrophe and an s).
Note: Many sources claim that an apostrophe and an additional s should be added to a noun ending in s if an extra syllable is pronounced (as in our example, which would be pronounced Thomas-es). However, both strategies are acceptable; just be consistent.
Unless otherwise noted, all images and text are copyright © Viable Design. All rights reserved.
Q Train Ad #1
Location: Q Train; New York, NY
Picture taken: July 2007
Textual representation of image: “Teach your kids about conservation at our fun kids site. They log on, you save money. www.conEd.com/kids”
Most places, people would look at you a little odd if you excused yourself to say you wanted to take a picture of the subway ad just over their heads. But, I suppose, I was so much less strange than Phil, the homeless guy with his shirt on inside-out who made his candy-sales spiel sound like the gospel, that the natives just nodded and continued staring into that blank space ahead.
There are two grammatical problems with this ad. First, the second kids is in desperate need of a final apostrophe, since it is a possessive — an adjective modifying site. Also, the final sentence contains a comma splice, or two independent clauses separated with a comma.
Rule: Use a final apostrophe with an adjective ending in s.
Rule: Two independent clauses can be separated with a period and a capital letter; a semicolon; a comma and a conjunction (and, or, but, for, nor, so, or yet); or a semicolon, a transitional expression (like however), and a comma.
Unless otherwise noted, all images and text are copyright © Viable Design. All rights reserved.
A Sesame-Seeded Backside?
Location: Burger King on Piney Forest Road; Danville, Va.
Picture taken: July 2007
Textual representation of image: “ITS BACK WESTERN WHOPPER”
Whose back? I’m envisioning a large flame-broiled burger on a sesame seed bun wearing a western shirt, bolero, and sombrero.
I know from experience that these make-your-own billboards contain apostrophes (sorry, Ry-Ry…), so maybe someone lost it?! The its/it’s error is a very common one, so probably not. Its is the possessive case of the pronoun it, while it’s is a contraction which stands for it is, which is what the sign really means. One use of the apostrophe is to show where something is missing; in this case, it’s the i of is. :P
We won’t even get into the rest of the missing punctuation in this sign, but at least it’s easily changed!
Rule: Use it’s in place of it is, and use its as an adjective form of the pronoun it.
Unless otherwise noted, all images and text are copyright © Viable Design. All rights reserved.