QI and apostrophes

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".

 

 

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@j*oono wrote:

I have another question.  What does QED actually mean in English?  I don't get it.


Quod erat demonstrandum: that which was to be proved.

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@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"Smiley LOL


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.

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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?

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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 ๐Ÿ™‚

It is/was also the car of the ex-Governor-General, or the ex-Governor-General's ex car ๐Ÿ˜‰

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Hypothetical, the GG has a chauffeur, and a new/near new car which we pay for, so we own it.

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@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.  Man Frustrated

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@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 ๐Ÿ™‚

It is/was also the car of the ex-Governor-General, or the ex-Governor-General's ex car ๐Ÿ˜‰


so, the car has been owned by both ???????

 

 

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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. Smiley LOL

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Yes, Rabbit. You sell me your Rolls Royce, it is now MY Rolls Royce, it used to be YOUR Roller.
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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

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