Apostrophes - Why Use Proper Grammar
Years ago, The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) dropped the use of apostrophes in its publications, probably because young people had never been properly taught how to use apostrophes, proper grammar having been dropped from the national curriculum for public school students (I will not include the reason why.).
Hence, I didn’t use apostrophes in The Burnham System for the Workers Compensation Claims Administration (WCCATM) designation which, by the way, is now available here for all three WCCATM courses.
But you should know how to use apostrophes, so I quote from Why Use Proper Grammar written and copyrighted by me years and years ago:
- APOSTROPHES:
- Contractions--(I’m, you’re, he’s, she’s, it’s, we’re, you’re, and they’re)--always use apostrophes.
- Possessive pronouns--(my, your, his, her, its, our, your, and their)--never use apostrophes.
- Possessive nouns--
- Singular--(Ray’s notes, the worker’s injury)--always use an apostrophe, before the ‘s’.
- Plural--(All the workers’ injuries)--always use an apostrophe, after the ‘s’.
Exception: Irregular plurals (the children’s toys, the wives’ tears)--use an apostrophe before the ‘s’.
- Non-possessive nominative (subject) and objective (object) nouns--(Some workers at some companies drive cars.)--never use apostrophes.
- Abbreviations--(CPCU®, NAIC)--Always treat them as the nouns they are.
Correct: Many CPCUs used this CPCU’s notes before becoming eligible to join The Society of CPCUs.
- Time periods--(1960s versus 1960’s and 1960s’)--The 1960s refers to a decade.
1960 refers to a year.
Treat them as plural and singular nouns, respectively.
Examples: The 1960s was the decade in which Bill didn’t inhale.
1960’s biggest hit was The Twist by Chubby Checker.
The 1960s’ greatest poet was Bob Dylan*.
Please take four minutes to master that section on apostrophes. Please!
If you’re young, you have no idea how incorrect use of apostrophes makes your elders cringe.
All else seemingly equal, I’d weigh incorrect use of apostrophes far more heavily in the negative than I’d weigh a cum laude diploma from Harvard in the positive. Yes, that’s an intentional dig at Harvard, the college most frequently chosen by Tufts rejects back when I went to college.
* Of improbable interest: The first full-credit, three-hour college course based on Bob Dylan’s poetry was taught by your favorite author (me) while I was an undergraduate at Tufts College (way back when Tufts College was the most selective college in the United States). My class at Tufts had an acceptance rate of 1 for every 26.23 applicants (excluding legacy admissions).
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