Apostrophe Ape

How To Use An Apostrophe Showing Possession With A Plural Word

tomthejourno — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:24:45 +0000

Here’s how I would use an apostrophe if my blog belonged to more than one ape.

Here’s how to use an apostrophe showing possession…

tomthejourno — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:10:09 +0000

Here’s how I used my special banana apostrophe to show this blog belongs to me.

Where would you put the apostrophe if the blog belonged to me and one of my other ape friends – in other words to two or more of us?

How do I use an apostrophe to show possession?

tomthejourno — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:38:02 +0000

This blog is mine. It belongs to me and to show that it does, I’m going to use an apostrophe. And because it’s one of my apostrophes, it looks like a banana.
First though, can you work out where it should go? This short film shows you the words.

See Gerald Go Ape After His Shopping Trip

tomthejourno — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 09:12:08 +0000

A happy shopping trip ends in disappointment for Gerald.

Reporter’s Notebook Stumps Two Out Of Three Retailers

tomthejourno — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:58:54 +0000

Shopping sometimes makes me so angry. Today I was out buying notebooks to help me note things down when I’m preparing my blog.

And guess what? Two out of three of the reporter’s notebooks I bought didn’t come with an apostrophe.

I don’t mind telling you that I went APE!

The first one out of the bag came from Wilkinson, a reputable national chain store and somewhere I would expect to be able to buy accurate stationery.

So, what did I find?

But if I was wild when I found one out of three books was wrong, I was livid when I pulled the second book out of the bag. This one was from Asda.

Asda, an apostrophe short

My frayed temper was only calmed by the third book in the bag. WH Smith restored my faith that people in retail really do pay attention to detail.

WHS provides a shining example and gets it right.

Apostrophes are like bananas

tomthejourno — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 11:04:35 +0000

I’m Gerald the Gorilla. I love apostrophes. I also love bananas.

When I see apostrophes, I think bananas. When I see bananas, I think apostrophes. Both bananas and apostrophes can be very useful and you can develop a taste for both of them too.

However, a carelessly misused banana has been known to make many a walker slip up. Likewise, carelessly misused apostrophes frequently make readers and writers trip up and lose their way.

I hope I can help you deal with these slippery customers and learn to ape-reciate them.