How to Avoid Apostrophe Abuse

by Debbie Burke

Apostrophes. That tiny punctuation mark seems to trip up more people than any other.

Here are a few examples of apostrophes that are misused:

 

So what are the correct uses of the apostrophe?

  1. In contractions: an apostrophe indicates a missing letter or letters.

Jean’s going to the store. = Jean is going to the store.

  1. To indicate possession: At the store, a shopping cart door-dinged Jean’s car.

When not to use an apostrophe:

  1. To indicate plurals. Shopping carts, not shopping cart’s.
  2. To indicate decades. The 1990s, not the 1990′s.

Decades can be written in various ways.

Example: Rock and roll gained popularity in the 1950s.

However, if the decade is possessive, it needs an apostrophe.

Example: The 1950’s song “That’ll Be the Day” hit number 1 on Billboard Magazine.

If you use a contraction to abbreviate a decade, that requires an apostrophe for the missing part of the year.

Example: In the ’20s, bobbed hair was the cat’s meow.

The dreaded question of ITS vs IT’S raises the most confusion.

That’s because ‘s usually indicates possession.

Examples: Gary’s book; the USA’s foreign policy.   

Its is the annoying exception.

It’s is a contraction for “it is” or “it was.”

In the immortal words of Mr. Rogers: “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” 

Its is the possessive form.

Example: AI doesn’t understand its own capability.

Plurals add another layer of confusion.

How often have you received a holiday card from “The Smith’s”?

“The Smith’s” is possessive.

It should be “The Smiths” plural to indicate the card came from multiple members of the Smith family.

Want to get even more confused? Names and nouns that end with an “S” are treated differently.

The plural of Jones is “Joneses.”

The plural of cross is “crosses.” Example: Many Civil War graves were marked with crosses.

The possessive of Jones can either be “the Jones’ house” or the Jones’s house” depending on the style guide used.

The possessive of crosses is generally crosses’. Example: The crosses’ wood had weathered and split.

Then there are plural initialisms. (I had to look that one up.)

They are initials that are used as nouns.

Examples: DMV, BMW, FAQ

The plurals are DMVs, BMWs, FAQs.

The possessive form needs an apostrophe.

Example: The DMV’s reputation for long wait times is well known.

However, if the initial is a single one, the plural needs an apostrophe.

Example: Sarah’s report card was all B’s.

The plural of the noun “I” can be shown with an apostrophe to keep it from being misread as “Is”.

Example: Too many I’s used in that paragraph is repetitive.

Yourdictionary.com offers a clear, concise explanation of how to avoid apostrophe abuse.

Pop Quiz

  1. When the tree starts to drop (its) (it’s) leaves, (it’s) (its) a sure sign of early fall.
  2. The (Gateses) (Gates’) (Gate’s) need to increase their income to keep up with the (Bezos’s) (Bezos’) (Bezoses).
  3. On (Saturday’s) (Saturdays) we always visit the (farmer’s) (farmers) market to check out the many different (vendor’s) (vendors’) fresh (veggie’s) (veggies).
  4. What’s your (Achille’s) (Achilles’) (Achilles’s) heel when it comes to grammar?
  5. (Phyllis’s) (Phyllis’) intention was to attend the (writer’s) (writers’) (writers) conference.

Answers:

  1. When the tree starts to drop its leaves, it’s a sure sign of fall.
  2. The Gateses need to increase their income to keep up with the Bezoses. Yeah, it sounds wonky to the ear but it’s correct.
  3. Saturdays is correct. Farmer’s is correct but could also be farmers’ market. Vendors’ is correct. Veggies is correct.
  4. Achilles’ and Achilles’s are both right. However, Achilles’ is less of a tongue twister and sounds better to the ear.
  5. Okay, this is a multiple-part trick question.

Phyllis’s or Phyllis’ are both right depending on the style sheet you’re using. Just be consistent—choose one form or the other and stick with it throughout the story, article, etc.

Writers’ conference is preferred because it’s possessive meaning multiple writers attend it. However, writer’s conference is also an adjective describing the type of conference. The Word grammar checker puts a squiggly blue line under writers conference, indicating questionable use. However, writers conference is common, making it accepted although not strictly correct.

 

I feel for non-native speakers trying to learn the inconsistent, convoluted, mystifying English language.

If we writers ever master all the nuances of grammar,“That’ll Be the Day” to celebrate!

~~~

TKZers: What’s your Achilles’ heel in grammar? Do you have any reminder tricks to suggest?

~~~

Counting down to launch day for The Villain’s Journey-How to Create Villains Readers Love to Hate.

James Scott Bell says: “Debbie Burke has filled a critical gap in writing craft instruction.”

Christopher Vogler says: “You will certainly find insight and inspiration to make your villains leap off the page and haunt your readers’ dreams.”

Preorder now and the ebook will be delivered to your device on July 13.

Amazon link

Dangling Participles, Misplaced Modifiers, and Other Awkward Constructions

by Jodie Renner, editor, author, speakerJodie_June 26, '14_7371_low res_centred

In your writing, have you inadvertently created some awkward sentences involving misuse of participles?

In my editing of fiction manuscripts, I find even my smartest, most talented authors sometimes commit gaffes with participles, which can affect the meaning of the sentence. Some readers may notice these style blunders, and others may just feel subliminally confused or inexplicably mildly irritated.

Problems with participles, dangling or otherwise:

Participles are verbs that end in –ing (present participle) or –ed (past participle). According to the Chicago Manual of Style, “The present participle (-ing verb) denotes the verb’s action as in progress or incomplete at the time expressed by the sentence’s principal verb.” In other words, an –ing verb expresses an action that is still taking place when another action occurs.

For example, “As he was driving on the freeway, a police car whizzed past, lights flashing and sirens blaring.” Or “She escaped while the house was still burning.”

So –ing verbs are mainly used for ongoing actions or to indicate an action that is still taking place when another action occurs. Here are some examples of incorrect use of participles:

Captivate_full_w_decal~ Logistical impossibilities

What’s wrong with these sentences?

Hurrying up the sidewalk, she ran into her office building.

Striding across the lobby, he jabbed the button for the elevator.

Tapping her toes impatiently, she dashed into a free elevator that stopped.

What’s the problem ? Logistics. The -ing verb indicates that the first action is still happening when the second one occurs, but it’s physically impossible. She can’t run into her office building while hurrying up the sidewalk – it’s physically impossible. And if he’s still striding across the lobby, he can’t be jabbing the elevator button. Nor can she tap her toes while dashing into an elevator!

~ Check those sentences starting with -ing verbs.

Newbie writers often start sentence after sentence with -ing verbs (participles). That’s another sign of amateurish writing, and causes logistic problems. Besides being repetitive and boring, this sentence construction usually ends up describing a physically impossible series of actions – sequential actions described as if they’re simultaneous, as in the examples above.

Here’s another one: “Pulling the car over to the curb, she ran up the sidewalk.” She can’t run up the walk while she’s pulling over to the curb. It should be something like, “She pulled the car over to the curb, parked, then ran up the sidewalk.” Or “After pulling the car over to the curb, she jumped out and ran up the sidewalk.”

So vary your sentence structure, and if you start a sentence or clause with an –ing verb, make sure it works.

~ Don’t get caught with your participles dangling!

According to Merriam-Webster, a participle is a word having the characteristics of both verb and adjective. As mentioned above, participles are verb forms that end in –ing or –ed, like “buzzing” or “roaring”, or “satisfied” or “soaked.” A participial phrase modifies a noun, like “Climbing the mountain, the hikers soon grew tired.” The phrase is talking about the activity of the person or thing closest to it, in this case, the hikers, so it’s correct.

Here’s an example of a dangling participle: “Exploring the trails, the birds chirped merrily.” It’s not the birds that are exploring the trails, so it needs to be changed to something like “Exploring the trails, the hikers heard birds chirping around them.” Or “As they explored the trails, the hikers…”

A few more examples of dangling participles:

Wrong:
Dodging the traffic, his cell phone got dropped on the street.

It’s not the cell phone that’s dodging the traffic, so it needs to be:

Right:
Dodging the traffic, he dropped his cell phone on the street.
Or: As he dodged traffic, he dropped his cell phone.

Wrong:
Gazing out the window, the willow tree swayed in the breeze.

This sentence implies it’s the willow tree that’s gazing out the window. It would need to be changed to something like:

Gazing out the window, she saw the willow tree swaying in the breeze.
Or: As she gazed out the window, she saw…

~ Misplaced modifiers are a mistake.

Also, watch where you put your descriptive phrases in sentences, as they modify the words closest to them. For example,

Tall and rugged, the teenage girl gazed at the basketball star in admiration.

As it is phrased here, the “tall and rugged” refers to the teenage girl, when it’s supposed to be describing the basketball star. It should be rephrased to something like:

The teenage girl gazed at the tall, rugged basketball star in admiration.

Similarly with:

Tired and dirty, the lady of the house watched the farm workers trudge past at the end of the long day.

It’s not the lady of the house who’s tired and dirty, so this sentence needs fixing.

The lady of the house watched the tired, dirty farm workers trudge past…

Wrong:
Slathered in chocolate icing with sprinkles, the customers bought boxes of the sweet, decadent donuts.

It’s not the customers who are slathered in icing with sprinkles! This should be changed to something like,
The customers bought boxes of the sweet, decadent donuts slathered in chocolate icing with sprinkles.

And you wouldn’t want to write, “Soaked to the skin, she dried off the kids when they came in from the rain.” Unless the mom is soaked to the skin, too!

Readers and writers – have you seen or accidentally created some awkward sentences involving misuse of participles? Care to share any humorous ones?

I provide lots of tips, with examples, of these and all kinds of other style gaffes to avoid in my award-winning editor’s guide to writing compelling stories, FIRE UP YOUR FICTION.

Besides publishing numerous blog posts, her popular Editor’s Guides to Writing Compelling Fiction, the award-winning Fire up Your Fiction, Writing a Killer Thriller,Captivate Your Readersand her handy, clickable e-resources, Quick Clicks: Word Usage and Quick Clicks: Spelling List, Jodie Renner is a freelance fiction editor. Find Jodie on Facebookand Twitter, and sign up for her occasional newsletter here. Author website: JodieRenner.com.