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In an effort to assist you all in this most difficult of decisions in these troubled times, I have included for your easy reference guidelines from the difinitive reference site of one of the Oxford English Dictionaries, please find herewith;

Please note! There are no prizes, it really is just for fun!

Apostrophe (’)
Are you uncertain about when to use an apostrophe? Many people have difficulty with this punctuation mark. The best way to get apostrophes right is to understand when and why they are used. There are three main cases – click on the links below to find straightforward guidance

•Using apostrophes to show possession
•Using apostrophes to show omission
•Using apostrophes to show plurals of single letters or numbers

People are often unsure about whether they should use its (without an apostrophe) or it’s (with an apostrophe). For information about this, you can go straight to the section it's or its?

Apostrophes showing possession

You use an apostrophe to show that a thing or person belongs or relates to someone or something: instead of saying the party of Ben or the weather of yesterday, you can write Ben’s party and yesterday’s weather.

Here are the main guidelines for using apostrophes to show possession:

Singular nouns and most personal names

With a singular noun or most personal names: add an apostrophe plus s:

We met at Ben’s party.
The dog’s tail wagged rapidly.
Yesterday’s weather was dreadful.

Personal names that end in –s

With personal names that end in -s: add an apostrophe plus s when you would naturally pronounce an extra s if you said the word out loud:

He joined Charles’s army in 1642.
Dickens's novels provide a wonderful insight into Victorian England.
Thomas's brother was injured in the accident.

Note that there are some exceptions to this rule, especially in names of places or organizations, for example:

St Thomas’ Hospital

If you aren’t sure about how to spell a name, look it up in an official place such as the organization’s website.

With personal names that end in -s but are not spoken with an extra s: just add an apostrophe after the -s:

The court dismissed Bridges' appeal.
Connors' finest performance was in 1991.

Plural nouns that end in –s

With a plural noun that already ends in -s: add an apostrophe after the s:

The mansion was converted into a girls’ school.
The work is due to start in two weeks’ time.
My duties included cleaning out the horses’ stables.

Plural nouns that do not end in -s

With a plural noun that doesn’t end in –s: add an apostrophe plus s:

The children’s father came round to see me.
He employs 14 people at his men’s clothing store.

The only cases in which you do not need an apostrophe to show belonging is in the group of words called possessive pronouns - these are the words his, hers, ours, yours, theirs (meaning ‘belonging to him, her, us, you, or them’) - and with the possessive determiners. These are the words his, hers, its, our, your, their (meaning 'belonging to or associated with him, her, it, us, you, or them'). See also it's or its?


Apostrophes showing omission

An apostrophe can be used to show that letters or numbers have been omitted. Here are some examples of apostrophes that indicate missing letters:

I’m - short for I am
he’ll - short for he will
she’d – short for she had or she would
pick ‘n’ mix - short for pick and mix
it’s hot - short for it is hot
didn’t - short for did not

It also shows that numbers have been omitted, especially in dates, e.g. the Berlin Wall came down in the autumn of ’89 (short for 1989).

It’s or its?

These two words can cause a lot of confusion: many people are uncertain about whether or not to use an apostrophe. These are the rules to remember:

•its (without an apostrophe) means ‘belonging to it’:
The dog wagged its tail.
Each case is judged on its own merits.
•it’s (with an apostrophe) means ‘it is’ or ‘it has’:
It’s been a long day.
It’s cold outside.
It’s a comfortable car and it’s got some great gadgets.

Regards

LOL - seriously not caring anymore dude. More important things are happening in the world that are of more interest than to discuss this IMHO.

Chocoholic wrote:LOL - seriously not caring anymore dude. More important things are happening in the world that are of more interest than to discuss this IMHO.

Please, please, please start a thread on one of them!!!!

Thanks Dillon, I'm up for a bit of light hearted humour, I've cast my vote!

Blimey Amb

Let me read for a few days to disgest the OP and i will come back to you.

A great thread by the way, let's keep it nice can we all please.

PS AMB

Can we agree that any gramm /punction or typo errors made in this thread and indiv posts be exempt until we have solved or agreed on the answerto your OP

arniegang wrote:Blimey Amb

Let me read for a few days to disgest the OP and i will come back to you.

A great thread by the way, let's keep it nice can we all please.

PS AMB

Can we agree that any gramm /punction or typo errors made in this thread and indiv posts be exempt until we have solved or agreed on the answerto your OP

Sorry Arnie,

Can we all agree that any grammar ,punction or typographical errors made in this thread in addition to individual posts, will be exempt from correction until such times as we have resolved or agreed on the answerto your OP

drewpeacock wrote:

arniegang wrote:Blimey Amb

Let me read for a few days to disgest the OP and i will come back to you.

A great thread by the way, let's keep it nice can we all please.

PS AMB

Can we agree that any gramm /punction or typo errors made in this thread and indiv posts be exempt until we have solved or agreed on the answerto your OP

Sorry Arnie,

Can we all agree that any grammar ,punction or typographical errors made in this thread in addition to individual posts, will be exempt from correction until such times as we have resolved or agreed on the answerto your OP

sure DP agreed that as as well

Loon comment: It's all a conspiracy - the apostrophe actually is a crescent in reverse and in minature!!

Fanbois comment: We should ignore the rules of grammar, they don't apply to us - 2000 years ago we had distant relatives who chose not to use punctuation, so we refuse to recognise punctuation laws - and we're going to steal some Arabic letters to boot!!

Jihadi comment: It is a zionist conspiracy - we should use Arabic in any case.

Everyone else's comment: WTF - who cares??

Everyone should listen to Victor Borge!

His 'audio punctuation' sketch is a creaser!



Knight

-- Wed Nov 17, 2010 6:53 pm --

Knew I would find it somewhere!

Enjoy!





Knight

lol - thanks, a true blast from the past (and for once, before my time!)

Cheers,
Shafique

lol Arnie, I'm the last person to advise on anything English.

Please feel free to correct me in the future. As they say every dog has it's day.......cheers

arniegang wrote:

drewpeacock wrote:

arniegang wrote:Blimey Amb

Let me read for a few days to disgest the OP and i will come back to you.

A great thread by the way, let's keep it nice can we all please.

PS AMB

Can we agree that any gramm /punction or typo errors made in this thread and indiv posts be exempt until we have solved or agreed on the answerto your OP

Sorry Arnie,

Can we all agree that any grammar ,punction or typographical errors made in this thread in addition to individual posts, will be exempt from correction until such times as we have resolved or agreed on the answerto your OP

sure DP agreed that as as well

Shaf said "F". Someone has clearly hacked his account!

dubaidog wrote:Shaf said "F". Someone has clearly hacked his account!

LOL, he only hinted at it. He could have used an abbreviated version of it, but chose not to. Oh wait does that mean that this thread will now go to FC?

LOL



Honi soit qui mal y pense.

Cheers,
Shafique

"Fromage frais, Rodney...fromage frais!"



Knight

Lovely jubly. This time next year, Rodders...





Cheers,
Shafique

shafique wrote:Lovely jubly. This time next year, Rodders...





Cheers,
Shafique

LOL one of my favourites.