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Ace-Garageguy

By Ace-Garageguy
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Ace-Garageguy MCM Ohana

Ace-Garageguy

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1 hour ago, oldnslow said:

314016318_5594862207227517_4843443518873

Funny and true, but minus 10 points for incorrect apostrophe usage on "airbag's".

How hard is it, really, to remember you don't use a damm apostrophe before an "s" signifying plural (more than one)?

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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stitchdup MCM Ohana

stitchdup

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49 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Funny and true, but minus 10 points for incorrect apostrophe usage on "airbag's".

How hard is it, really, to remember you don't use a damm apostrophe before an "s" signifying plural (more than one)?

but it could be correct, apostrophe s also means belongs to, as in possesed by so they could be saying it doesn't own airbags.

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NOBLNG MCM Ohana

NOBLNG

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The apostrophe contraction only takes the place of the i in “is”. Try saying these with “is” in place of the “ ‘s”. If it doesn’t sound correct, it’s not.  Airbags’ WOULD mean owned by an airbag.
No airbag’s foolproof. (correct)

No airbag’s or seatbelts. (Incorrect)

This is the old airbags’ house. (Correct…I think)

 

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Ace-Garageguy MCM Ohana

Ace-Garageguy

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45 minutes ago, NOBLNG said:

The apostrophe contraction only takes the place of the i in “is”. Try saying these with “is” in place of the “ ‘s”. If it doesn’t sound correct, it’s not.  Airbags’ WOULD mean owned by an airbag.
No airbag’s foolproof. (correct)

No airbag’s or seatbelts. (Incorrect)

This is the old airbags’ house. (Correct…I think)

 

There's no contraction here (like there's) so don't muddy the issue.

The issue here is about plurals and apostrophes and ownership.

Many people seem to use apostrophes randomly, sometimes to indicate plural (more than one) which is WRONG.

But the rules are simple.

Plural is signified usually by simply adding an "s" to the root word. NO APOSTROPHY (And let's not go down the rabbit hole of words that have oddball plurals, like hippopotami, OK?)

More than one airbag is airbags.

An apostrophe signifies possession if it's BETWEEN the root word and the "s" if the root is singular: airbag's (one airbag owns something).

An apostrophe signifies possession if it's AFTER the root word ending in "s" if it's plural (more than one): airbags' (multiple airbags own something).

"This is the old airbag's house" means ONE airbag owns the house.

"This is the old airbags' house" means MULTIPLE airbags are found there.

There will be a test Tuesday. Failure is not an option.   ;)

 

 

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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Snake45 MCM Ohana

Snake45

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And while we're on the subject, more or less, one of my alltime pet peeves is using an apostrophe in the possessive "its."  "It's" means "it is." "Its" means "belonging to it." 

And why is there no apostrophe in the possessive its? I can teach you this in about ten seconds and you'll own it forever. Ready? 

Here are the possessive pronouns: 

My/mine

Your/yours

Our/ours

His

Her/hers

Their/theirs

Its

Do you see it? There are no apostrophes in ANY of them. So, for uniformity, there is no apostrophe in "its." 

Now you own it forever. Here endeth the lesson. Go and sin no more. B)

 

 

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Ace-Garageguy MCM Ohana

Ace-Garageguy

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2 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

But if airbag is a personal name, wouldn't it be Airbag's?

Just askin'.

That one's kinda tricky, but basically the same if you think about it.

If it was the old house of one person named Airbag (Mr. Airbag), you'd be correct.

But if it was the old house of the family of multiple people named Airbag (the Airbags), it would be the old Airbags' house.

Isn't pedantry fun?  B)

 

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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Monty MCM Ohana

Monty

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This has been irritating me for some time, so I'm glad to see someone is finally taking it on.  

Here's what's embarrassing:  Over the years we've had any number of foreign members (mostly European from what I could tell) and they never had any issues using apostrophes correctly, despite the fact that English may not have been their first language, while some American posters mystified me by using them in an almost random way.  I've seen sentences with two plural nouns but only one had the (incorrect) apostrophe.  What rationale were they using to make that decision?

For those of us who learned to use apostrophes the correct way, so much of what we see posted looks as silly as someone typing a'u't'o'm'o'b'i'l'e's. 

Really don't get it.    

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DPNM MCM Ohana

DPNM

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Grammatical errors are one of my top pet peeves. They are so common now I have just decided to "shine them on". If you notice there is an error in the Noah meme and the one with the pipe wrench welded to the bumper. 

There are enough meme's just in this thread to attest to the fact that people are just plain stupid (not you Bill). I doubt that is a lack of caring. I believe that correct sentence structure has not been taught for years. 

I bought a sewing machine from a lady 79 years young today. We were talking about how they no longer teach cursive writing in school. My question was, how will these students legally sign their name?

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