on โ30-08-2014 11:29 AM
did anyone watch the QI episode where they discussed Apostrophes and their use??
I missed it but a friend tells me I have been using apostrophes wrongly.
as in "Bill's Car" - the car that belongs to Bill should be "Bills' car".
on โ30-08-2014 01:26 PM
on โ30-08-2014 01:28 PM
@the_great_she_elephant wrote:If we want to be pedantic, it should strictly speaking be "Wills's car." Unless of course we are referencing the royal "WE"
You are right. It sounds better also. My view is that Wills' car is the correct written version, and Wills's car is the correct spoken version.
โ30-08-2014 04:21 PM - edited โ30-08-2014 04:21 PM
OK, so let's say Bill sold the car to the Governor General who's car is it then?
Now, that Governor General past it on to the next Governor General - whose car has it been then?
on โ30-08-2014 04:31 PM
on โ30-08-2014 04:46 PM
Hypothetical, the GG has a chauffeur, and a new/near new car which we pay for, so we own it.
on โ30-08-2014 04:47 PM
@harley_babes_hoard wrote:
http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp
Um not sure why you pointed me to the grammarbook. I have no trouble with apostrophes but as I said in my earlier
post - to paraphrase, lol - bah humbug. I have taught the English language and think a lot of it is
unnecesarily complicated and silly and it's (note "it's") time to have a makeover, but the pedants won't let us.
on โ30-08-2014 04:55 PM
@katydidthat wrote:
1) It is the car of the Governor-General, or the Governor-General's car.
2) Then, it becomes the car of the next Governor-General, or the next Governor-General's car.
But, by this time, it's getting a bit old so the next GG trades it in for a later model, so it becomes the new car of the new Governor-General, or the new Governor-General's new car ๐
It is/was also the car of the ex-Governor-General, or the ex-Governor-General's ex car ๐
so, the car has been owned by both ???????
โ30-08-2014 05:06 PM - edited โ30-08-2014 05:08 PM
At least it's not as complicated as French where you can't even say Bill's car, you have to say the car of Bill (le voiture de Bill)
Also, in French the posssesive pronouns "my", "your" (singular) and "his/her its" have three different forms (mon, ma, mes; ton, ta tes amd son, sa, se) depending not on who is doing the possessing but on on whether the object(s) possessed is/are designated masculine, femine, singular or plural.
"Your" plural doesn't distinguish between feminine and masculine but still has two forms (votre and vos) depending on whether the object(s) possessed is/are singular or plural.
Once you've learned French, English grammar is a doddle.
on โ30-08-2014 05:10 PM
on โ30-08-2014 05:22 PM
Say we have 3 cars each owned by a governor-general lined up at the auction. Next to them is a King-in-Waiting's car. Mr Whitlam also had 2 vehicles in the sale.
"The 3 Governors-Generals' Holden Statesmans looked cheap alongside Wills' Rolls. An elderly statesman's vehicles were to be auctioned too."
Is this correct?
DEB