Understanding the correct placement of apostrophes, especially when it relates to years, can significantly improve clarity and precision in your writing. In this guide, we will delve into the correct ways to use apostrophes when writing about years, decades, plurals, and possessives.
Apostrophe Usage
When it comes to abbreviating years, for example, changing 1979 to ’79, the apostrophe’s placement is essential. The apostrophe stands in for what’s omitted. In this case, the numbers ’19’ are omitted from ‘1979’, forming the shortened year ’79.
- To shorten the year e.g., 1979, you replace the ’19’ with an apostrophe, forming ’79.
- In contractions, the apostrophe indicates that one or more letters have been omitted, e.g., ‘don’t’ for ‘do not’.
Referencing Decades
When referencing specific spans or decades, different rules apply:
- To indicate a span of decades, use without an apostrophe, e.g., ‘1900s’, ‘1970s’.
- To abbreviate a decade, use an apostrophe before the year, e.g., ’70s for 1970s.
- When referencing facts or occurrences belonging to a decade, put an apostrophe after the end number and between the ‘s’, e.g., ‘1970’s style pants’.
Plurals and Possessives
It’s also essential to understand the difference in using apostrophes for plurals and possessives:
- To make a noun plural ending in ‘s’, add only an apostrophe, e.g., ‘cabinets’ veneers’.
- For a plural noun not ending in ‘s’, add ‘apostrophe + s’, e.g., ‘women’s club’.
- For possession, use ‘s or s’ depending on whether the noun is singular or plural, e.g., ‘the dog’s ball’ (one dog), ‘the dogs’ ball’ (more than one dog).
Conclusions
Using apostrophes correctly, especially when writing years, can be an essential tool for conveying precise and clear information. Keep these guidelines in mind when writing or editing, and your meaning will be accurately communicated. Now, you will be able to place apostrophes correctly when referencing years, decades, and using plurals and possessives.