Using apostrophes in contractions and possessives | Grammar and Style Tidbits 8

[@Agapy8888]

Hi Prof. Enjoyed this.

[@snaplanguage]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for being such a supportive viewer!

[@Agapy8888]

@@snaplanguage I try whenever time permits.

[@roxanachavez3412]

Greetings Professor: thank you so much for this video excellent . Apostrophes are not easy I'm learning ESL and I still struggle with them. One more question Professor, what dictionary do you recommend me for me I saw your video about 7 tips to learn vocabulary and you mentioned we need have one good dictionary . Thank you for your assistance Professor . t

[@snaplanguage]

You are very welcome! And thank you for giving me a good idea for another video for Snap Language Learner. I think "how to choose a good dictionary" would make a great video to follow up the "7 tips..." video. For now, check out learnersdictionary.com/ It's designed for English-language learners, but it doesn't dumb it down too much, so you still get to experience a good dictionary. I use dictionary.com quite frequently. Their thesaurus is okay. They also have an app (for the iPhone at least). I'll post more information on the Community tab sometime today. Thanks for supporting the channel

[@snaplanguage]

I posted about "Choosing a Good Dictionary" to the Community tab. Please check it out. I'll work on a video for Snap Language Learner as soon as possible. -- Thanks!

[@lindagates9150]

Thank you for this lesson, it's a timely one, as lately I have noticed that I have developed a slight fear of misusing apostrophes and have a tendency to rewrite some sentences to avoid using them, if at all possible. That is in any situation other than the common contractions as I'm comfortable with certain ones and some not so common contractions such as 'tis , 'twas is a word I'd likely use if I was aiming for a certain effect that would affect the reader ! Have started using the possessive apostrophe once in awhile too. My inner editor is complaining her whinging is just a reminder that I have never been satisfied with the first draft and as I am going to hit the send button without a rewrite I can't complain ...she is now saying where's your Webster's you really should check the effect affect combo . Only three hours sleep tonight so I shall blame any lapses on my meed to view your fascinating lessons and my need to write a comment .😘💞🙋🏼‍♀️👍👍👍👍👍🖖🖖🖖🖖❤️

[@lindagates9150]

I shouldn't re-read a comment my spelling errors are so frustrating but I am not going to edit it as that will lead to more edits🤷🏼‍♀️

[@snaplanguage]

Don't torture yourself I'm glad these videos are resonating with you. Thank you for supporting the channel!

[@1519Cortes]

Excuse me. And what if a company’s name finishes already with ‘s? Now in Thailand they opened a shop called Lotus’s. If I want to say Lotus’s’s car park... how could I write or say it?

[@snaplanguage]

That's a great question. If the company's name already has an 's, there's no need to add another. So, you'd say "Lotus' car park." Thanks for watching and leaving a question

[@goldengirlgoldengirl7498]

😮😮😮

[@snaplanguage]

😎

[@bigscarysteve]

Wow. I REALLY disagree with you on possessives. First, there are possessive forms of pronouns, e. g. his, hers, its, yours, ours, theirs, whose, which don't take an apostrophe. There are others which do, e. g. someone's, anybody's, etc. Second, whether a possessive noun is singular or plural is a complete red herring. If the noun ends in "s," then just add an apostrophe. If it doesn't end in "s," then add an apostrophe and an "s." As for this business with "sake," I've NEVER heard of that before--or seen it in print anywhere.

[@snaplanguage]

I'm not sure what the disagreement is regarding "someone's, anybody's, etc." I addressed words such as "his" or "its" only because some people have trouble with them. We can't disagree with something I've never said lol Perhaps we have a different understanding of what "red herring" means, so I'll take it with a grain of salt. I didn't make these rules up to divert viewers' attention or to mislead intentionally. Perhaps you mean that those rules don't make much sense or something like that. If so, "standard" grammar is full of those. (But I don't make those rules up myself ) I find it interesting that you've never seen those apostrophes before in expressions using "sake." I've always understood something like "for Pete's sake" as "for the sake of Pete," so I actually *expect* the apostrophe to be there. The expression doesn't make sense otherwise (to me, that is). All this makes grammar a pain and language fascinating, doesn't it? Thanks for watching and for leaving a comment.

[@taalliefhebber7876]

@@snaplanguage The video itself ends with "English grammar, for Pete's sake!" LOL and it recommends consulting a style guide and admits that grammarians' recommendations can be different. So, I'm good with all the content haha I'm never sure if it should be "in Jesus's name" or "in Jesus' name." I guess it doesn't matter as long as you're consistent in your document? What do you think, Marc?

[@snaplanguage]

Whether or not to use an apostrophe after singular names ending in an S or S-sound is one of the points of contention people have (much like the endless discussion about the Oxford comma). You're absolutely right about internal consistency. Whatever your preference, stick with it *for consistency's sake* ;) Thanks for the comment

[@snaplanguage]

P.S.: Oddly, "in Jesus' name" sounds much better to me than "Jesus's." However, "Ross's house" sounds better. So, the rules are conflicting. I'd say that "Jesus' name" (without the extra S) works as "an expression," so it doesn't really have to "follow the rule" (the speaker's "internal rule," that is). Pretty fascinating stuff