Presents:

The Dirty DozenWorkshop Series

Workshop Eight:

Apostrophes

& Faulty Predication

Part One:

Apostrophes

The ground crew quickly prepared the plane for it’s next flight.

The ground crew quickly prepared the plane for its next flight.

Which sentence is

correct?

The ground crew quickly prepared the plane for it’s next flight.

The ground crew quickly prepared the plane for its next flight.

Answer A is incorrect

because it’s means it is.

Its shows possession.Why?

Apostrophe Use

Apostrophes are used for

ContractionsExample: He wasn’t (was not) excited to leave.

Possessive nouns & indefinite pronouns

Examples: John’s pet raccoon is smelly.

The answer was anyone’s guess.

Possessive Pronunciation

In some cases, we can omit the –’s:

• Singular nouns ending in an s, z, or x sound • Names with more than one s (Moses)• Names that sound like plurals (Rivers, Bridges)• Nouns followed by a word beginning in an s

Examples: Moses’ mother hid him in a basket.

Jeff Bridges’ performance in The Big

Lebowski has made the film a lasting favorite.

You are late again, for goodness’ sake!

Apostrophe Errors (apos)

Until recently apostrophes were used to form the plurals of abbreviations (MFA’s), dates (1980’s), and words or characters named as words*, (if’s, and’s, but’s). Most current texts no longer recommend the apostrophe in these cases.

Correct: He earned two MFAs in the 1980s.

My phone number has three 4s [or 4s].

Your plan has too many ifs [or ifs].

*

Checking for (apos) Errors

Rule #1: An apostrophe will always be placed either before or after an

-s at the end of a noun owner.

Examples: That store’s sales figures are always impressive. (1 store)

Those three stores’ sales figures are always impressive. (3 stores)

Checking for (apos) Errors

Rule #2: The noun owner will always be followed by what it owns.

Examples: That store’s sales figures are always impressive.

Those three stores’ sales figures are always impressive.

Making Possessive Nouns

Step 1. Determine the owner. In these examples, the owner is store or stores.

Step 2. If the noun owner is singular, place an apostrophe and an s at the end of the noun.

store store’s

Step 3. If the noun owner is plural, place the apostrophe at the end of the noun. If the plural noun ends in s, do not add another s.

stores stores’

Some plural nouns do not end in s. To form the possessive of plural nouns that do not end in s, add an apostrophe and s at the end of the noun.

Examples:

mice mice’s (not mices’)

children children’s (not childrens’)

men men’s (not mens’)

Plural Possessives

Some indefinite pronouns form their

possessives by adding an apostrophe

and an s at the end of the pronoun.

Examples:

anybody anybody’s

everyone everyone’s

someone someone’s

Possessive Pronouns

Personal pronouns do not add an

apostrophe to form the possessive.

Examples:

yours (not your’s)

hers (not her’s)

ours (not our’s)

its (not it’s)

Personal Pronouns

Its vs. It’s

The ground crew quickly prepared

the plane for it’s next flight.

It’s always means it is or it has.

The ground crew quickly prepared

the plane for its next flight.

Its is the possessive pronoun.

(Psst! The construction its’ does not exist.

The plural possessive would be their.)

To make a compound noun possessive,

add an apostrophe or apostrophe and

–s to the last word in the compound.

Possessive Compound Nouns

Example

Singular: brother-in-law brother-in-law’s

Plural: brothers-in-law brothers-in-law’s

To show joint ownership by two people,

add an apostrophe or apostrophe -s to the

second noun of the pair.

Example: Shana borrowed her mother and father’s car for a road trip.

If the two members of a noun pair possess

a set of things individually, add an

apostrophe or apostrophe -s to each noun.

Example: Both Molly’s and David’s families went skiing last week.

Joint Ownership

’

Inappropriate Apostrophes

• Apostrophes should not be

used to form plurals.

Incorrect: The dog’s barked loudly.Correct: The dogs barked loudly.

• Apostrophes should not be

used with verbs that end in s.

Incorrect: She want’s to go jogging.Correct: She wants to go jogging.

A. Lucas left class to go to

the men’s room.

B. Lucas left class to go to

the mens’ room.

In the following pairs, one sentence

is correct, and the other sentence

has an incorrect use of an

apostrophe or a missing apostrophe.

A. Lucas left class to go to

the men’s room.

B. Lucas left class to go to

the mens’ room.

Answer B is incorrect. The plural of man is men, so the plural possessive is men’s. Remember, first make the noun plural; then make it possessive.

A. Of all my coworker’s, I like

Michelle the best.

B. Of all my coworkers, I like

Michelle the best.

In the following pairs, one sentence

is correct, and the other sentence

has an incorrect use of an

apostrophe or a missing apostrophe.

A. Of all my coworker’s, I like

Michelle the best.

B. Of all my coworkers, I like

Michelle the best.

Answer A is incorrect. Coworker’s is the possessive. Coworkers is the plural. (Remember that an apostrophe does not make a noun plural.)

A. Matt bought two weeks’ worth of food supplies for his camping trip.

B. Matt bought two week’s worth of food supplies for his camping trip.

In the following pairs, one sentence

is correct, and the other sentence

has an incorrect use of an

apostrophe or a missing apostrophe.

A. Matt bought two weeks’ worth of food supplies for his camping trip.

B. Matt bought two week’s worth of food supplies for his camping trip.

Answer B is incorrect. Week is singular. Weeks is plural. Since the amount of groceries is for two weeks, the plural possessive is weeks’.

Part Two:

Faulty Predication

Dementia is a neurological disorder that affects memory.

Dementia is when a person has a neurological disorder that affects memory.

Which sentence

is correct?

Dementia is a neurological disorder that affects memory.

Dementia is when a person has a neurological disorder that affects memory.

Answer B is incorrect because dementia is not a time, but a disorder.

Why?

Faulty Predication (fp)

Faulty predication occurs when the

subject and the verb do not make sense

together. In other words, the subject

can’t “be” or “do” the predicate.

The predicate is the part of the sentence or clause, including the verb, that expresses what the subject is or does.

What’s a Predicate?

Michele worked studiously on her paper.

subject predicate

(fp) Example

Correct:

The purpose of cars is to transport people.

Cars were invented to transport people.

The purpose of cars were

invented to transport people.

(The purpose was not invented. Cars were invented.)

Golf is when people try to hit small balls into holes in the ground using clubs.

(Golf is not a time.)

Golf is a sport that involves people hitting small balls into holes in the ground using clubs.

The phrase is when can

indicate a faulty predicate.

How to spot (fp)

Tipone

Claustrophobia is where a person is afraid of enclosed spaces.

(Claustrophobia is not a place.)

Claustrophobia is a disorder that causes a person to fear enclosed spaces.

The phrase is where can

indicate a faulty predicate.

How to spot (fp)

Tiptwo

The reason for low sales is because prices are too high.

The reason for low sales is that prices are too high.

Sales are low because prices are too high.

The phrase the reason is

because… is redundant.

How to spot (fp)

Tipthree

During the hurricane’s winds caused a lot of damage.

The hurricane’s winds caused a lot of damage.

Prepositional phrases

cannot be the subjects of

sentences.

How to spot (fp)

Tipfour

A. Fishing is when people catch fish

using hooks and bait.

B. When people go fishing, they use

hooks and bait to catch fish.

In the following pairs of

sentences, one sentence has

faulty predication, and the other

sentence has a subject and a

verb that “match.”

A. Fishing is when people catch fish

using hooks and bait.

B. When people go fishing, they use

hooks and bait to catch fish.

Answer A is incorrect because fishing is not a time.

A. In her frustration with traffic caused

her to get a speeding ticket.

B. Her frustration with traffic caused

her to get a speeding ticket.

In the following pairs of

sentences, one sentence has

faulty predication, and the other

sentence has a subject and a

verb that “match.”

A. In her frustration with traffic caused

her to get a speeding ticket.

B. Her frustration with traffic caused

her to get a speeding ticket.

Answer A is incorrect. In her frustration is a prepositional phrase, and therefore cannot be the subject of a sentence.

A. A rare antique in good condition

can sell for thousands of dollars

at auction.

B. The good condition of a rare

antique can sell for thousands of

dollars at auction.

In the following pairs of

sentences, one sentence has

faulty predication, and the other

sentence has a subject and a

verb that “match.”

A. A rare antique in good condition

can sell for thousands of dollars

at auction.

B. The good condition of a rare

antique can sell for thousands of

dollars at auction.

Answer B is incorrect. The good condition cannot be sold. Only the antique can be sold.

These Dirty Dozen Workshops are also

available online at the Writing Center’s

website in two formats:

Workshop Presentation PDFsUnder “Handouts,” we have posted pdfs of the PowerPoint presentations we use in these workshops.

New! Quick & Dirty Dozen VideosThese short videos recap each workshop in five minutes or less.

For appointments, resources, handouts and more, visit:

www.methodist.edu/writing-center

Thanks for coming!See you next semester!

Thanksgiving is where family and friend’s

get together and eat lots of turkey. My

familys house is always full of good smells

and tons of people. Dad’s favorite thing to

do on Thanksgiving is watch football. The

reason he likes to watch the game is

because he used to play football in college

Its his favorite sport. I cant imagine

Thanksgiving without football!