The Only Grammar Book You'll Ever Need by Susan Thurman

Author:Susan Thurman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: F+W Media
Published: 2003-06-26T16:00:00+00:00

Using an Apostrophe to Form a Plural: A Rare Occasion

Remember the store signs mentioned at the beginning of this section that incorrectly use an apostrophe:

Special price’s this week! Rent two movie’s today! Five can’s for $4.00!

The words that have apostrophes are just plain ol’ plurals; they don’t show ownership in any way and so don’t need apostrophes. (If you’re unsure about whether you should use an apostrophe, ask yourself if the word in question owns or possesses anything.)

There are a few rare instances when you use apostrophes to form plurals. The first is when you’re writing abbreviations that have more than one period.

M.D. = M.D.’s

Also, if you have proverbial expressions that involve individual letters or combinations of letters, use apostrophes to show their plurals.

Dot your i’s and cross your t’s.

(In these instances, some style guides dictate that you shouldn’t italicize the letter you’re making plural; other guides take the opposite view.)

Another time that you should use an apostrophe to form a plural is when your reader would be confused by reading an –s alone (for instance, when an –s is added to an individual letter or letter combination, to hyphenated compounds, or to numbers used as nouns).

s = s’s (instead of ss)

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