Dear Dish on Numbers and Apostrophes
Dear Dish:
I've grown increasingly dissatisfied with my one of my desktop calendars. The grammar one. It's called "Eats, Shoots and Leaves." Very clever title.
I thought it would unlock the secrets of grammar - the secrets of kings! And the upper class. I'm sick of those two-bit grammar correctors thinking they're better than me. It's just not fair when I'm coerced into writing a number as a number (3), instead of writing the word out, like "three". (I only have this issue up to and including the number nine). I know I'm right.
So anyway, I'm either looking for a better desk top calendar, or spiritual advice relating to the grammar department. What's the deal with the apostrophe anyway? Can I ever use it to show possession? Like, as in, Dish's Advice column? An olde English teacher once got snotty with me for using it in that sense. But it's soo tempting!
Sincerely,
A Grammar Rodeo Participant
P.S. - Everything is going fine at work, in case you're wondering.
Dear GRP:
Dish has an AC(lightning bolt)DC calendar in her cube and she finds it quite satisfactory. In fact, it is a shining beacon in a small dreary cube.
However, if you truly are in need of grammar guidance, you have come to the right place. Dish is a language professional.
Many factors need to be taken into consideration when deciding whether to write numbers out or express them as numerals. Generally speaking, we write out single digit numbers (one to nine) and use numerals for the rest (10 and over). Of course when you start getting into the big numbers you can use a combination, for example, "I want to win $20 million" dollars. Exceptions to the rule do occur however. Single digit numbers should be expressed as numerals if it lends consistency to the text or if your text is financial, technical or scientific.
As for the apostrophe, its primary use is to indicate possession! Perhaps, what your teacher was upset about was the use of "it's" to indicate the possessive. This is a definite no no. "It's" is ALWAYS a contraction of "it is". The possessive form of "it" is "its".
If you have any more grammar dilemmas, I am here for you.
Dish
posted by Dish @ 9:50 AM
1 Comments:
oh, man, this advice is your most useful yet. This has cleared up the eternal possessive/it's issue(s). Thanks, Dish! Language experts are some of my favourite people.
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