Be careful when you want to show ownership with a plural noun because the spellchecker
cannot figure out a context-dependent use of apostrophes. For example:
This semester the students’ grades declined.
Compare this to:
This semester the student’s grades declined.
The first sentence describes the grades of many students, and the second sentence
refers to the grades of only one student. Both are grammatically correct. The proper
apostrophe placement will depend on what you mean when you write the sentence.
This sentence indicates joint ownership:
The body and the mind’s connection to each other is still a debated topic.
And this sentence indicates separate ownership:
The body’s and the mind’s reactions to the same medication can differ.
Spellcheckers don’t discern ownership apostrophes in these sentences because
separate and joint ownership often depends on context. In the first sentence, the
body and mind jointly "own" the same connection and in the second sentence
the body and mind separately "own" different reactions. Remember also
to make the "owned object" singular in joint ownership and plural in separate
ownership. The spellchecker won’t know if you mix these up. Don’t write:
The body’s and the mind’s reaction to the
same medication can differ.
"Reaction" is a singular noun, which refers to only one object. Separate
owners must have separate objects to own; therefore, a plural noun is needed.
Pluralizing with apostrophes
You can use apostrophes to pluralize letters and digits.
How many 5’s are in the number 5000?
How many a’s are in this sentence?
To indicate more than one abbreviation, use an apostrophe and an
"s" at the end:
Next year she will have two Ph.D.'s.
The rules about this are evolving. If you don't use periods in an abbreviation or
if you use an acronym, you don't need an apostrophe:
Next year she will have two PhDs.
Back to Contents
or Next Page