_Ginge_ said:

It's no wonder I failed English at school.

 

indeed. don't worry as you are not alone - so many people seem unsure of how to use apostrophes correctly.

 

alasdair

alasdairm said:

indeed. don't worry as you are not alone - so many people seem unsure of how to use apostrophes correctly.

 

alasdair

 

Is that supposed to make me feel better?

 

Why do you always put your name at the botom of all your posts? Its been bugging me for ages.

_Ginge_ said:

Is that supposed to make me feel better?

 

you tell me? i was just placing the issue in a wider context.

 

_Ginge_ said:Why do you always put your name at the botom of all your posts? Its been bugging me for ages.

 

see this discussion: http://community.clubtheworld.uk/showfl...true#Post257293

 

alasdair

Ginge, I'm afraid Cherry is correct!

There are TWO uses for apostrophes.

 

1. Missing letters. E.g.

"it's" = "it is"

"don't" = "do not"

 

2. Possession. E.g.

"Ginge's illiteracy" = "the illiteracy of Ginge"

"the forum's tediousness" = "the tediousness of the forum"

"the girls' toys" = "the toys of the girls"

"the award is Cherry's" = "the award belongs to Cherry"

 

The apostrophe is obligatory, so it's incorrect to say "the Queens head". Note the position of the apostrophe when the possessor is plural ("the girls' toys").

 

There is one exception to the possession rule: you don't use apostrophes for pronouns. Instead you use a special variation on the pronoun. E.g.

"its pointlessness" = "the pointlessness of it"

"the money is theirs" = "the money belongs to them"

 

Hmm, grammar debates in the "fun" forum...

We've cleared it up now. Thanks anyway.

P.S. Ginge, you are right about plurals. Off the top of my head, there are two occasions when you add an "s" without an apostrophe.

 

1. Pluralisation. E.g.

"car" --> "cars"

"the Queen's coin" --> "the Queen's coins"

 

Plus your usual exceptions like:

"I've got one willy" --> "I've got two willies"

"one cactus" --> "several cacti"

"a die" --> "a couple of dice"

 

2. Third person singular verbs. E.g.

"to give" --> "he gives"

"to suck" --> "it sucks"

 

Plus a few exceptions like:

"to be" --> "she is" (!)

"to toss" --> "he tosses"

_Ginge_ said:

We've cleared it up now. Thanks anyway.

liquideyes said:

Plus a few exceptions like:

"to be" --> "she is" (!)

"to toss" --> "he tosses"

 

Shouldnt that be...

 

To be.....she is "BEING"......she has "BEEN"

 

In all fairness though, English is a fuckin awkward, awful language spawned by lots of other languages.

"She is being" is subtley different from "she is", though both are grammatically correct.

 

E.g. If I said "Ginge is being an idiot" or "Ginge is being idiotic" that means you are being an idiot at the moment.

If I said "Ginge is an idiot" or "Ginge is idiotic", that would be rather more offensive, since I am saying you are an idiot, all the time, period!

_Ginge_ said:

Shouldnt that be...

To be.....she is "BEING"......she has "BEEN"

In this case "being" and "been" are participles (present and past respectively).

 

I think that is a special version of a verb (e.g. "to go" becomes "going") which effectively becomes an adjective, and hence can be used after any verbal clause ("I am", "they were", "you had better be").

 

In all fairness though, English is a fuckin awkward, awful language spawned by lots of other languages.

Agreed, every rule seems to have about 12 exceptions!

Is there anybody that has managed to get as far as puzzle 14(money matters) ?????

It's doing my head in big-time!

liquideyes said:

Ginge, I'm afraid Cherry is correct!

There are TWO uses for apostrophes.

 

1. Missing letters. E.g.

"it's" = "it is"

"don't" = "do not"

 

2. Possession. E.g.

"Ginge's illiteracy" = "the illiteracy of Ginge"

"the forum's tediousness" = "the tediousness of the forum"

"the girls' toys" = "the toys of the girls"

"the award is Cherry's" = "the award belongs to Cherry"

 

The apostrophe is obligatory, so it's incorrect to say "the Queens head". Note the position of the apostrophe when the possessor is plural ("the girls' toys").

 

There is one exception to the possession rule: you don't use apostrophes for pronouns. Instead you use a special variation on the pronoun. E.g.

"its pointlessness" = "the pointlessness of it"

"the money is theirs" = "the money belongs to them"

 

Hmm, grammar debates in the "fun" forum...

 

 

i love this guy! respect!

Liquid eyes - get a life!

 

I've just spent an hour trying to work out the mythical creature one, Q5. Seriously pissing me off now

sentialSteve said:

Liquid eyes - get a life!

 

I've just spent an hour trying to work out the mythical creature one, Q5. Seriously pissing me off now

 

can anyone see a contradiction there?

sentialSteve said:

Liquid eyes - get a life!

 

I've just spent an hour trying to work out the mythical creature one, Q5. Seriously pissing me off now

 

Try viewing the source Liquid