Should i use s

In their place, you add an apostrophe. Imagine you're on a submarine that's diving deep into the ocean. As you dive deeper and deeper, the water pressure becomes greater. If you go too deep, the water will squeeze the submarine so hard it'll begin to leak, and you'll need to put something into the hole to stop the leak.

The same thing happens when you squeeze two words together. Something pops out. And, wherever it comes out, you must place an apostrophe to plug the hole. Are you ready to see apostrophes in action? In the following story, apostrophes are being used for multiple purposes. Let's take a look at where they are and how they're functioning.

Robert and Lisa Smith have two beautiful children. Amy is nine and Ross is seven. The Smiths' house has two floors. The children's rooms are upstairs, and the parents' bedroom is downstairs. Lisa's room is always clean while Ross's room is always messy. Some writers use less common contractions when they want to represent a particular style of speech. Contractions are usually considered to be relatively casual.

The rules about forming possessives probably cause the most apostrophe confusion. They vary a little bit, depending on what type of noun you are making into a possessive. Here are the rules of thumb:. Style guides vary in their recommendations of what to do when you have a singular proper noun that ends in s. Use whichever style matches the style guide you use for your writing.

Personal pronouns, unlike regular nouns, do not use apostrophes to form possessives. Words at Play When to Use It's vs. What to Know It's is a contraction and should be used where a sentence would normally read "it is. More Words At Play. Merriam-Webster's Words of the Week - Oct. Time Traveler. Love words? Need even more definitions? Ask the Editors 'Everyday' vs.

He learned his ABCs. She consulted with three M. Some write M. There are different schools of thought about years and decades. The following examples are all in widespread use:. Rule 7. Amounts of time or money are sometimes used as possessive adjectives that require apostrophes. Rule 8. The personal pronouns hers, ours, yours, theirs, its, whose , and the pronoun oneself never take an apostrophe. Examples: Correct: Feed a horse grain. Correct: Whose glasses are these? Correct: Talking to oneself in public is odd.

Rule 9. The correct word is till , which is many centuries older than until. Rule Beware of false possessives , which often occur with nouns ending in s. Close analysis is the best guide. In the preceding sentence, the word the makes no sense unless New Orleans is being used as an adjective to describe cuisine. In English, nouns frequently become adjectives. Adjectives rarely if ever take apostrophes.

Correct: I like that Beatles song. Beware of nouns ending in y ; do not show possession by changing the y to ies. Exception: Names and other proper nouns ending in y become plural simply by adding an s.

They do not form their plurals with an apostrophe, or by changing the y to ies. Correct: The Flannerys are coming over.