Post by olywakim on Sept 20, 2004 23:30:49 GMT -5
If you rely on the BoS, instead of a company policy or client request, for advice on the use of the apostrophe with units of time, measurement, and money (worth), the answer is, “If you can replace the possessive form with the preposition ‘of’ without changing the meaning, the apostrophe is correct” (BoS 2002, 327).
If you find discussions of this type interesting (unfortunately, I do), here are a few sites to check out other people's perspectives on the history of possession and ‘of’.
webster.commnet.edu/grammar/possessives.htm
www.tutorpal.com/Our_English/early_modern_english/dchn_eme.html
But back to the apostrophe. The ‘replace with of’ rule is helpful, but because the expressions are rarely spoken that way, they can seem awkward at times, so how can you tell for sure?
How about these?
6 weeks ago
ago (adj.)
4 months pregnant
pregnant (adj.)
5 months old
old (adj.)
A 2 months pregnant woman
2 months modifies the adj. pregnant not the noun woman
3 days’ hard labor
3 days’ ‘possesses’ the noun labor not the adj. hard
What this suggests is that if we have a noun (pregnancy) after the time, measure, or worth expression, then we use the apostrophe. If we have an adjective (pregnant) after the expression, then we would not use the apostrophe. This observation is backed up by the Chicago Manual of Style website:
www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/cmosfaq.html
(Okay, I added the stuff in parentheses. But the rest is on the website.) These expressions of time, measure, or worth are examples of idiomatic expressions, which are described by Diane Sandford this way,
www.llrx.com/columns/grammar14.htm
That explains why we say 2 days’ work, even though it’s my, or your, work not the day’s.
Can anyone come up with a stumper?
If you find discussions of this type interesting (unfortunately, I do), here are a few sites to check out other people's perspectives on the history of possession and ‘of’.
webster.commnet.edu/grammar/possessives.htm
www.tutorpal.com/Our_English/early_modern_english/dchn_eme.html
But back to the apostrophe. The ‘replace with of’ rule is helpful, but because the expressions are rarely spoken that way, they can seem awkward at times, so how can you tell for sure?
How about these?
6 weeks ago
ago (adj.)
4 months pregnant
pregnant (adj.)
5 months old
old (adj.)
A 2 months pregnant woman
2 months modifies the adj. pregnant not the noun woman
3 days’ hard labor
3 days’ ‘possesses’ the noun labor not the adj. hard
What this suggests is that if we have a noun (pregnancy) after the time, measure, or worth expression, then we use the apostrophe. If we have an adjective (pregnant) after the expression, then we would not use the apostrophe. This observation is backed up by the Chicago Manual of Style website:
In expressions like "3 hours late" and "5 feet high" the expression of time or distance is simply modifying the adjective that follows. The apostrophe is reserved for the genitive (possessive) case, (and only nouns can be possessed). The phrase "four months' pregnancy" is an example of the genitive case because it can be rewritten with ‘of’ (AND pregnancy is a noun!)
www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq/cmosfaq.html
(Okay, I added the stuff in parentheses. But the rest is on the website.) These expressions of time, measure, or worth are examples of idiomatic expressions, which are described by Diane Sandford this way,
An idiom is an expression that means something different from the literal meaning of the individual words—e.g., a cool cat. Even boyfriend doesn’t mean boy friend; it means sweetheart (which is also an idiom)..
www.llrx.com/columns/grammar14.htm
That explains why we say 2 days’ work, even though it’s my, or your, work not the day’s.
Can anyone come up with a stumper?