Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The Apostrophe with Numbers, Letters and Abbreviations


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Rule: The plurals for capital letters and numbers used as nouns are not formed with apostrophes.


Example: She consulted with three M.D.s.

BUT

Example: She went to three M.D.s’ offices.
The apostrophe is needed here to show plural possessive.


Example: She learned her ABCs.

Example: the 1990s

NOT

the 1990’s


Example: the ’90s or the mid-’70s

NOT

the ’90’s or the mid-’70’s


Example: She learned her times tables for 6s and 7s.

Exception: Use apostrophes with capital letters and numbers when the meaning would be unclear otherwise.

Example: Please dot your I’s.

You don’t mean Is.


Example: Ted could not distinguish between his 6’s and 0’s.

You don’t mean Os.




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Source: Grammarbook




4 comments:

  1. I always get caught out with the plural abbreviation of personal computers or PCs! LOL!

    Take care
    x

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  2. Taking notes!
    Good to hear from you, Crystal.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi OK! It's always so nice to see a comment from you!

    Alex! Thank you! Time just keeps flying by—I figured it was about time I MADE time to post something! :)

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