The dreaded apostrophe s

The apostrophe s ('s and s') is a big problem area for an increasing number of people. There is so much misuse of it that even people who have previously been comfortable with it are starting to doubt themselves. It seems to be used incorrectly almost as often as it is used correctly!

There are two purposes of the apostrophe s:

1. to replace the words is or has

The man's going to work
The man's had a bad day

2. to denote possession

When something belongs to one person or thing (singular):

The boy's coat
The town's mayor
The car's engine
The tenant's garage

When something belongs to two or more people or things (plural):

The boys' coats (More than one boy, each with a coat)
The cars' tyres (The tyres on more than one car)
The tenants' garages (More than one tenant; more than one garage)

Or when a single item belongs to more than one person or thing:

The boys' boat (More than one boy; one boat)
The tenants' garage (More than one tenant; one garage)

To be continued...

It's or Its?

This seems to be the one that confuses more people than any other. Many people seems to guess at which one to use and are often not even consistent within a document they are writing.

It's is used to replace It is or It has.

There is no other use for it so, if you can't replace It's with It is or It has, it's its!

It's a lovely day is correct.

Its a lovely day is incorrect.

Its coat was shiny is correct.

It's coat was shiny is incorrect.

Everyday or Every day?

I get quite upset by the incorrect use of words and phrase in written English these days so I thought I'd try to do something to bring attention to the errors and possibly encourage people to raise their standards.

I'm not talking about changing to a more academic style of language but just cutting out the common errors that are increasingly creeping in.

The first example is the use of everyday in place of every day and vice versa.

Like most of the errors I will be covering here, the rule for deciding on which to use is simple:

Everyday as one word means "common or garden" or things we use every day such as bread and milk. In technical terms it is an adjective - a word that adds further meaning to a noun.

"I buy everyday items at the corner shop."

For any other use the correct version is every day.

"I buy my milk from the corner shop every day."


So, usage such as "The best prices everyday" is incorrect; it should be "The best prices every day."

I'm sure a lot of people don't have the slightest concern about this but I believe it is important. Please feel free to submit your comments of support or ridicule!