Which of these is correct?
- They met in the ‘90s and have been friends ever since.
- Jess’s dog got lost.
- Please take off your shoe’s.
If you said A and B, you win the prize. Apostrophes do two things:
1.Show a contraction (omitted letter or number):
- It’s, they’re, don’t . . . (avoid these in correspondence, unless from a quoted text)
- He came of age in the ‘90s. (The apostrophe marks the omitted 19. The s marks a simple plural.
- It’s = it is/it has
2.Form the possessive case of a noun
- John’s book, William and Mary’s reign
- SCE’s proposed rate increases
- Kansas’s climate
That’s it. Just contraction and possession. Did you notice “create plurals” on that list? No, you did not. That’s because, notwithstanding all the ignorant signage you’ve seen in your life, apostrophes do not form plurals.
Plural Possession Uses s’
Perhaps some of this confusion arises from the combination of the plural with the possessive. Let’s say you have one cat. Your cat has a bowl. We refer to that bowl as the cat’s bowl. Now, for reasons unfathomable to me,(since I am allergic to cats) you decide to get another cat. Contrary to your cats’ wishes, you want them to share a bowl. That bowl is called the cats’ bowl. Notice: the smakes the word plural. The apostrophe makes it possessive. The apostrophe has nothing to do with the fact that you decided to get another cat.
Shocking News About Words That End in s, x, or z
Most of us learned in school that if a word ends in s, x, or z, we show possession with an s-apostrophe (s’ – not an apostrophe -s (‘s. We blithely wrote the duchess’ tiara, Kansas’ climate, the Times’ editorial and so forth.
About 20 years ago, however, the Grammar Police got together and turned this picture upside down. If you read contemporary style guides such as The Chicago Manual of Style and The AP Stylebook, you will find that the modern usage is to write s’s, z’s, and x’s. So we now have the duchess’s tiara, Kansas’s climate, The Times’s editorial, Gertz’s contract, and so on.
I know this comes as a shock. Take a deep breath. That ss’s is correct.
Plurals of Letters and Numbers May Use an Apostrophe
I said earlier that apostrophes do not form plurals. One shoe, two shoes. One contract, two contracts. But there is an exception when dealing with plurals of letters and numbers. For example, if I were to write, “Watch your ps and qs,” you might not know what I mean. But if I write, “Watch your p’s and q’s,” you know you’d better watch your step. Similarly, If I ask you to compile answers to a questionnaire, I could write, “Put all the 1s in the same pile.” Looks weird, doesn’t it? Instead, we would write, “Put all the 1’s in the same pile.”
So yes, as with everything, there is an exception to the rule about apostrophes not forming plurals. But that’s the only exception. Other than in cases when clear understanding is at stake, do not use apostrophes to form plurals.
Contraction and Possession: That’s not so hard!
So that’s it. Using the apostrophe is simple. Use it to show you’ve cut something out or that something belongs to someone. Do not use it to form a plural. And if you’re unhappy with the s’s change, call the Grammar Police!