Suppose I have a character who can’t pronounce the letter b, and I have him start a sentence with “bananas” in dialogue. Is this correct, using a single quotation mark in front of a pointing away from a: “’ananas! What will I do now?” Arun said. Should I capitalize the a of “ananas”? It’s at … Read more
When specifying possession, my understanding is that one adds an apostrophe if modifying a plural ending with an ‘s’, or adds apostrophe followed by an s if not. How does one specify possession of one of a group? For example, when discussing a ball belonging to a friend of mine, should I assume ‘friends’ is … Read more
The sentence is as follows: The association “Association Name” requirements. Where should I put the possessive apostrophe? The association “Association Name”‘s requirements. OR The association’s “Association Name” requirements. Answer No matter where you put the apostrophe in that example it’s going to look strange to some people—regardless of whether or not it’s considered correct. In … Read more
Which one is correct? It is my friend’s, Adam’s birthday. It is my friend, Adam’s birthday. Does the word ‘friend’ need an apostrophe to show possession? Answer If using the nonrestrictive (as discussed in another answer), I would simply rephrase the sentence to avoid the possessive: It’s the birthday of my friend, Adam. With this, … Read more
I see both usage, with “honors calculus” much more common. This is in reference to courses and programs in high school and universities with a higher level of requirements than the regular counterpart. My Microsoft Word software does not like “honors”, it prefers “honor’s” in above context. What is the correct usage and why? On … Read more
I’m not sure where I picked up this habit, but I think it might be grammatically incorrect. I’m a fiction writer and have just started working on a new novel, so I want to clear this up before I get too far in. Here’s an example, since the question sounds a bit confusing: The speaker … Read more
I know the topic has already been discussed, for example, here the accepted answer talks about possessives, but I wonder if my specific case is about possessives or something else. These are the sentences I found in a quiz, choose the right one: I have no more bread I must go to the baker’s I … Read more
I am launching new wearable software company with motto: Get your service on users wrists and I am not sure if it should be users or user’s. By the motto, I want to tell that you can get your service to wrists of all your users. What is the correct way to write this? Also, … Read more
I have a noun, “second”, that I need to make possessive in the sentence, It’s like having a second’s slower reflexes. When I make it plural, the apostrophe comes after the s. It’s like having two seconds’ slower reflexes. However, my noun is actually a quarter second. You only use the singular noun when there … Read more
This is quite hard to explain (and seemingly impossible to search for on Google) so here’s an example: In relation to dogs and their owners (masters), I saw this sentence: “Their understanding of the subject is as good as their masters.” Does the word “masters” require a possessive apostrophe, even though the noun “understanding” has … Read more
