OK, here I go again with a grammar/spelling/word usage rant. 
More and more lately I'm seeing apostrophes used to form the plural of nouns - which they cannot, and do not do!
Plurals are formed by adding an "s" or sometimes an "es."
An apostrophe has two primary purposes in the English language.
One is to denote possession:
- Sally's cat.
- That car's wheels.
- The agent's listing.
- The teacher's book.
- The stove's burners.
Some words, however just ARE possessive, and don't need or want an apostrophe.
For instance:
- theirs
- hers
- his
- yours
- ours
- its
The other use for apostrophes is to take the place of letters that are missing when you combine two words:
- they're for they are
- I'm for I am
- she's for she is
- isn't for is not
- there's for there is
- haven't for have not
- don't for do not
These words are called contractions, and they're used when you want a friendy, casual tone.
There are a few other uses for apostrophes, which you can learn by visiting Grammar Girl, but the big thing to remember here is that YOU DO NOT FORM THE PLURAL OF A NOUN WITH AN APOSTROPHE!
When there's a noun followed by an apostrophe and an s, you need to look for something that belongs to that noun.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Comments(24)