Sunday, March 31, 2002
A Brief Note on Punctuation:
As an (currently, at least) English major, I feel it my duty to contribute something worthy to the world. Thus, I propose to teach how to properly punctuate words with an apostrophe at the end.
For example:
My friend's name is Mark Jones. Mark Jones' wife's name is Ellen. The Joneses invited me over for dinner one night. Under the table was the Joneses' dog Yappy, hoping for scraps.
Jones is Mark's last name.
Jones' refers to something that belongs to Mark or is characteristic of him. It could also be written Jones's, though that's a little clunky for my taste.
Joneses refers to more than one person named Jones. Usually, if the people related, you say "The Joneses" or "Mark and Ellen Jones," while if they're not, you would say "Mark Jones and Eric Jones."
Joneses' refers to something that belongs to the Jones family or is characteristic of them. Again, you could write it Joneses's, but that looks a little silly.
Sorry if I was a little pedantic, I just get tired of seeing these mistakes all the time.
As an (currently, at least) English major, I feel it my duty to contribute something worthy to the world. Thus, I propose to teach how to properly punctuate words with an apostrophe at the end.
For example:
My friend's name is Mark Jones. Mark Jones' wife's name is Ellen. The Joneses invited me over for dinner one night. Under the table was the Joneses' dog Yappy, hoping for scraps.
Jones is Mark's last name.
Jones' refers to something that belongs to Mark or is characteristic of him. It could also be written Jones's, though that's a little clunky for my taste.
Joneses refers to more than one person named Jones. Usually, if the people related, you say "The Joneses" or "Mark and Ellen Jones," while if they're not, you would say "Mark Jones and Eric Jones."
Joneses' refers to something that belongs to the Jones family or is characteristic of them. Again, you could write it Joneses's, but that looks a little silly.
Sorry if I was a little pedantic, I just get tired of seeing these mistakes all the time.
