Do you use greengrocer's apostrophe?

Today’s English
May 27th, 2017

The incorrect use of apostrophe is known as greengrocer’s apostrophe since mostly illiterate sellers like grocers used to employ apostrophe wrongly in their name board or speech. An apostrophe is generally used for two reasons: to show possession (a girl's bag) and to point out omission of letter(s) or numbers– doesn’t (o is omitted).  The following guidelines will be helpful to avoid errors in the use of apostrophe especially in written English.

Rule 1
“for a singular noun, use apostrophe( ' ) + s

1. We have to obey our principal’s order.
2. My father’s friend gave me this gift.

Rule 2
“for a plural noun ending with “s", use only apostrophe( ' ) without “s".

1. Girls' safety is of primary concern here.
2. You are gonna see many teachers' retirement in the year 2019.

Rule 3
“for a plural noun not ending in “s", use apostrophe( ' ) + s

1. She wants her daughter to study only in women’s college.
2. Men’s apparel is a bit cheaper than children’s one.

Rule 4
“If a person’s name ends in “s", use apostrophe( ' ) + s

1. All children would love to read Dickens's novels.
2. Have you read Edward Thomas’s poetry?

Rule 5
“If a person’s name ends with “s" and has double “s" sound, use only apostrophe( ' ) without “s".

1. Jesus' sermon on the mount has as much as 36 interpretations. (Don’t say Jesus’s)
2. Zipporah is Moses' wife. (Don’t say Moses's)

Rule 6
When you don’t mention a living being, use “of" instead of apostrophe + s

1. I have no words to describe the beauty of the village. (Don’t say village’s beauty)
2. Delhi is the capital of India. (Don’t say India’s capital)
3. Measure the length of the scale. (Not scale's length.)

Rule 7
Avoid continuous apostrophe and use “of".

1. She is the daughter of my manager’s sister. (Not manager’s sister’s daughter)
2. I went to the marriage of the sister of my friend’s colleague. (Don’t say my friend’s colleague’s sister’s marriage.)

Rule 8
Use apostrophe while omitting numbers and letters
1. He's my friend. He's a bike.(He’s = He is, he has)
2. He'd come tomorrow. He'd a bitter experience. (He'd = He would, he had)
3. It happened in the year '96. (= 1996)

Rule 9
Don’t use apostrophe in the plural form of years and abbreviations

1. In the 1700s, many innovations led to industrial revolution. (Not 1700's)
2. In 2020s, India will become economically more powerful nation. (Not 2020's)
3. Many MPs live in this area.

(Interviewer: If  Vimal's colleague’s uncle’s sister’s mother’s brother-in-law's father is your uncle, what is your relationship with Vimal?
Candidate: ……………?!)