Linguistic body has relaxed rules on use of apostrophe to show possession, not traditionally correct in German
  • BumpingFuglies@lemmy.zipEnglish
    9·
    28 days ago

    Interesting. In English, I’d say the “idiot’s apostrophe” is an apostrophe that’s used for a non-possessive, non-contraction ‘s’.

    E.g., “The Johnson’s are going to the mall to buy pizza’s.”

    • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
      22·
      28 days ago

      Doesn’t “idiot’s” in this example show possession?

      And the “Johnson’s” is a plural?

      Or do I misunderstand what you’re trying to say saying?

      • BumpingFuglies@lemmy.zipEnglish
        9·
        28 days ago

        In English, apostrophes are only used for possession and to indicate missing letters (usually vowels), as in contractions.

        My example showed apostrophes incorrectly being used for non-possessive plural nouns. I used a proper noun (“Johnson”) and a common one (“pizza”) to better illustrate my point.

        • BearOfaTime@lemm.ee
          2·
          27 days ago

          Thanks.

          Wanted to make sure I was getting what you were puttin’ down.

          Yea, the rules are pretty clear, at least I always thought so.

          Kind of telling that so many people can’t be bothered to understand it.

          • BumpingFuglies@lemmy.zipEnglish
            3·
            27 days ago

            Nah, it’s pretty simple. Pronouns don’t use apostrophes for possession; they only use them for contractions like “it’s”.