THE APOSTROPHE: POSSESSED AND DISPOSSESSED

By Mamie Webb Hixon

UWF Writing Lab Director

THE FORMERLY POSSESSED
The apostrophe disappeared.

Veterans Day

Achilles heel

THE "UNPOSSESSED"
The apostrophe or the apostrophe and -s is unnecessary.

narcotics agent	Admissions Office
honors classes	sports page
document shredding	Arts Council
expert witness testimony	Pikes Peak
household goods	the Webb sisters
records clerk	auto insurance

THE DISPOSSESSED
Both the apostrophe and the -s have been eliminated, thus giving emphasis to both nouns.

staff guidelines	university personnel
the Roy Jones fight	attorney fees
employee benefits	company policy
student rights and responsibilities	Pensacola tourists
driver license (also driver's license)	committee report

THE TERMINALLY POSSESSED
Some expressions are always possessive: the apostrophe is fixed regardless of whether the noun following the word is singular or plural.

Mother's Day	bachelor's degree(s)
a man's world	master's degree(s)
rabbit's foot	beginner's luck
collector's item(s)	traveler's check(s)

JOINT POSSESSION 
The apostrophe is required on the second noun only.

Children and Women's Hospital	Ted and Jane's wedding
Boys and Girls' Club of Escambia County	Men and Women's Day

THE PLURAL POSSESSED 
The apostrophe is added after the plural -s.

Annual Blue Angels' Homecoming Air Show	Greyhound Bus Lines' passengers
the Joneses' lawsuit	Secretaries' Week
two weeks' pay	Presidents' Day
six years' experience	both parents' consent
workers' compensation	Bosses' Day
veterans' benefits

When the plural noun does not end in -s, add both an apostrophe and an -s.

Children's Telephone Number (Pay attention, BellSouth)

women's rights

men's department

the people's choice

THE SINGULAR POSSESSED
An apostrophe and -s are added unless this addition distorts the pronunciation of the word.

the waitress's tip	Robert's Rules of Order
the boss's desk	Dr. Seuss's stories
the witness's testimony	Bill Gates's millions
Clifford Odets' play	the judge's decision
Wesley Snipes' hometown	company's policy
Bruce Willis's stunts	my husband's diabetes
Sophocles' plays	Jesus' teachings

ON-THE-JOB GRAMMAR TIP

Hopefully is an adverb meaning "in a hopeful manner." According to the American Heritage Dictionary,, Fourth Edition, the use of hopefully as a sentence adverb in the sentences below is unacceptable to many critics and careful writers:

	Hopefully, the company's profits will increase this fiscal year.
	Hopefully, the temperature will be warmer tomorrow.

Careful writers and speakers prefer using hopefully in these instances:

	Couples usually go into marriages hopefully.
	The hurricane victims waited hopefully for the arrival of clothing and food.

Verbing Nouns

Did you power off the computer?
I will calendar the date.
After twenty-five years on my job, I was surplused.

A Message from the Editor

NEW WORDS

powernap • living will • outsource • downsize • dehire