# Apostrophe usage question **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 27, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427 "2008-02-27T22:34:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/1 "2008-02-27T22:34:49Z")
In the interest of giving a local sign maker the benefit of the doubt, it occurred to me yesterday that maybe “Condo’s for Sale” is perfectly legitimate after all. “Condo’s” is a contraction of “Condominiums” with the apostrophe substituted for “minium”. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a698b9/32.png) [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/2 "2008-02-27T22:55:46Z")
The only way “Condo’s for Sale” is if it was a contraction for “Condo is for Sale.” Otherwise it is possessive. There should be no apostrophe. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/3 "2008-02-27T23:03:45Z")
[QUOTE=Rascal’s Mom] The only way “Condo’s for Sale” is if it was a contraction for “Condo is for Sale.” Otherwise it is possessive. There should be no apostrophe. [/QUOTE] Maybe contraction is the wrong word. Per [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contraction_(grammar)), maybe I should have said abbreviation: [QUOTE=Wikipedia entry for Contraction (grammar)] Single-word contractions include: “can’t” for “cannot,” ma’am for madam and fo’c’sle for forecastle. Words like gov’t for government and int’l for international are abbreviations, not to be confused with contractions. [/QUOTE] I don’t understand the distinction between “ma’am” or “fo’c’sle” and “gov’t” or “int’l”; why are the former single-word contractions and the latter abbreviations? And why couldn’t “condo’s” be short for condominiums? ETA: Should this be in GQ? ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/4 "2008-02-27T23:10:30Z")
I think contractions only apply to established forms - you’d never use int’l intead of international unless you ran out of space or something. (The forecastle one is interesting though - I’ve never seen it.) As for condos, I don’t think people consider it much of an abbreviation anymore. It’s like bus, or fridge. Writing out “I took the 'bus today” just looks silly in modern English. ---
**Author:** ![Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a698b9/32.png) [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/5 "2008-02-27T23:11:54Z")
“Condo” is already a contraction of “condominium.” Adding an “S” only makes it plural. Apostrophes before an “S” only make it possessive, which is unnecessary in this case. I am not sure why the other words (gov’t, etc.) are considered abbreviations rather than contractions. I would say gov’t is a contraction, govt. is an abbreviation. I am no authority by any means. Just an English/grammar nerd with some college. ---
**Author:** ![MrSquishy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@MrSquishy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrSquishy)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/6 "2008-02-27T23:30:02Z")
[QUOTE=Rascal’s Mom] “Condo” is already a contraction of “condominium.” Adding an “S” only makes it plural. Apostrophes before an “S” only make it possessive, which is unnecessary in this case. [/QUOTE] I think that makes sense. Don’t get me wrong, my intention wasn’t to argue that it is correct usage. I guess it just occurred to me that in this case, I can kind of understand how somebody might possibly think it is correct. It appeared to be a professionally-made sign, not just written on cardboard with a Sharpie. It was so nice, I started to wonder if I was wrong and they were right (because they’re professional sign-makers, and I’m just some dude getting all worked up about apostrophes). Hence the OP. I saw a sign on a drawer once that said “knive’s and forks”. Now there’s one I just cannot understand. Why would anyone think an apostrophe is required to pluralize “knife” but not “fork”? ---
**Author:** ![Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a698b9/32.png) [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/7 "2008-02-27T23:50:10Z")
In e-mails to me regarding our sons, my ex refers to them as “the boy’s.” Grrr. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/8 "2008-02-28T00:05:44Z")
[QUOTE=MrSquishy] I saw a sign on a drawer once that said “knive’s and forks”. Now there’s one I just cannot understand. Why would anyone think an apostrophe is required to pluralize “knife” but not “fork”? [/QUOTE] Especially when there’s no such word as “knive.” ---
**Author:** ![Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a698b9/32.png) [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/9 "2008-02-28T00:07:30Z")
Good one, Lob boy! ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/10 "2008-02-28T00:37:49Z")
It seem’s like one of those word’s that ha’s’ come into our cultures usage’s. sorry I’m still not clear on acronyms, like should it be DVDs or DVD’s? Condo has become a word on its own, making the plural simply condos. But what do I know. I’m all for removing the “scare” hyphen in email. Just like we did with to-morrow. Bloody Brits. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/11 "2008-02-28T00:45:45Z")
[QUOTE=Rascal’s Mom] In e-mails to me regarding our sons, my ex refers to them as “the boy’s.” Grrr. [/QUOTE] He can still push your buttons eh? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/12 "2008-02-28T00:52:03Z")
[QUOTE=BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed] I’m still not clear on acronyms, like should it be DVDs or DVD’s? [/QUOTE] My understanding is that you should only use an apostrophe if confusion occurs without it. For example, you would want to say, “I got all A’s on my report card.” because without the apostrophe then it may be read as the word As and cause confusion. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/13 "2008-02-28T00:56:48Z")
[QUOTE=Inner Stickler] My understanding is that you should only use an apostrophe if confusion occurs without it. For example, you would want to say, “I got all A’s on my report card.” because without the apostrophe then it may be read as the word As and cause confusion. [/QUOTE] That’s the general rule I follow, but many stylebooks will allow something like “DVD’s.” ---
**Author:** ![Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a698b9/32.png) [@Rascal\_s\_Mom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rascal_s_Mom)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/14 "2008-02-28T01:00:12Z")
Very funny, P’oF. Naw, it’s just that, like I said earlier, I am such a language dork. Funny observation though. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/15 "2008-02-28T01:04:08Z")
[QUOTE=Inner Stickler] My understanding is that you should only use an apostrophe if confusion occurs without it. For example, you would want to say, “I got all A’s on my report card.” because without the apostrophe then it may be read as the word As and cause confusion. [/QUOTE] And the rule which should override all this is that if such confusion could possibly arise, then reword things so that it’s not an issue. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/16 "2008-02-28T01:16:27Z")
[QUOTE=Inner Stickler] My understanding is that you should only use an apostrophe if confusion occurs without it. For example, you would want to say, “I got all A’s on my report card.” because without the apostrophe then it may be read as the word As and cause confusion. [/QUOTE] You’d think a straight A student would know that. Then again what do I know, my report cards were always full of Bs. ---
**Author:** ![Sunrazor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sunrazor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunrazor)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/17 "2008-02-28T01:28:54Z")
::bypasses all other answers, goes straight to “Post Quick Reply”:: English MA candidate and former newspaper editor checking in: No apostrophe! “Condo” is not an contraction of the word “condominium”, it is an abbreviation, a shortening, a corruption, a bastardization – but it is NOT a contraction. NO APOSTROPHE!!! ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/18 "2008-02-28T01:30:56Z")
Roger, that! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/19 "2008-02-28T05:20:51Z")
[QUOTE=Sunrazor] English MA candidate . . . . . . an contraction . . . [/QUOTE] Yup. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427/20 "2008-02-28T05:23:16Z")
I live not too far from “Two Brother’s Beauty Supply.” Every time I drive past, I have to stare at it, like a bad accident. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apostrophe-usage-question/439427.md?page=2)