Grammar/punctuation question...?

Question

When adding an s and apostrophe to show possession, do you ALWAYS put the apostrophe before the s?

For some reason I'm getting confused and thought that if you put the apostrophe before the s, you did so as an abbreviation for the subject and "is" such as:

Mary('s) going to school today.

However, I know that to show possession, you would ALSO put it this way:

Mary('s) bag is full of chocolate.

What about this sentence...

"For advertisements sake, modifications were made."

Should it be: A.

"For advertisement's sake, modifications were made."

or B.

"For advertisements' sake, modifications were made."

The second one looks right to me yet I'm not sure why and I want to say the first is correct...is there a rule or guide to go by to help me remember this in the future? (It's been so long since I've been in school) :P

Answer 1

's can mean either possession or a contraction of  ___ and "is".

possession:

if the noun is singular, you use ' s.

ex: Mary's dog is barking.

if the noun is plural, you use s'.

ex: The Veterans' Park was defaced with graffiti. (the park is not for just one veteran)

or

a Farmers' Market (made up of different farmers as vendors)

in your example, this one is right:

"For advertisement's sake, modifications were made."

you are making the modification for the sake of "advertisement" (singular) not "advertisements" (plural).

if you're curious about punctuation, i highly recommend the book "eats shoots and leaves: the zero tolerance guide to punctuation" by lynne truss. it's a very funny book (honest) and it teaches proper punctuation while entertaining. it's a light read from a funny Brit. her main example is her frustration at the absence of an apostrophe in the movie title "Two Weeks Notice" (sandra bullock, hugh grant).

mamie: there are many more than 2 uses for the ' in english! although it's used less frequently, it's used to show ommission of #s:  '08, to connect #s and letters the 80's. i could go on.

Answer 2

"Advertisement's" is used when there is more than one advertisement and the modifications belong to them all.  

Answer 3

I know for my brother's name, Chris, I put the apostrophe after the s (Chris') but I never knew if it was correct or not. LOL

Answer 4

There are two uses for the apostrophe in English. One is with a contraction, such as isn't, doesn't, aren't. The other is to show possession.

In your first Mary example, the action is being perfomred by Mary, so it is Mary's action.  In the second Mary example, it's Mary's bag.  In both instances, you must say MARY'S.  This is called singular possessive because there is only one Mary.

In your advertisement example, it is also singular possessive.  But this is awkward.  A clearer way of writing this construction would be to say 'For the sake of..."

Plural possessive is generally shown by putting the apostrophe after the final s, such as in the word boys' in the phrase 'the boys' cars."

This can get confusing if there is more than one person (plural people) but only one item (singular). If there are two boys and they share ownership of the same car, then the construction is 'the boys' car."

If there is one boy and one car, it's written "the boy's car," just like "Mary's bag."

There are instances where the plural is not made by adding an "s," such as the word children. In that case, the plural possessive is written "children's."

I hope this helps.