quick grammar question

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I’m doing invitations for h.s. track banquet and I want to mention collecting money for gifts for the coaches. Is it coaches’ gifts or coaches gifts? I believe it should have an apostophe.</p>

2

<p>The sentence is “$15 includes coaches’ gifts.”</p>

3

<p>From The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage:</p>

<p>The singular possessive is formed with ‘s (boy’s coat) and the plural with s’ (boys’ coats).</p>

4

<p>Thanks, zip. There is more than one coach. I was just currious if it was possessive. The gifts will eventually belong to the coaches. Where is my h.s. senior when I need him?</p>

5

<p>I can’t believe it–an actual QUICK grammar question. CC is notorious for its (not it’s) long grammar threads. One reason to love this place…</p>

6

<p>Colon usage question:</p>

<p>if you were to say
Come together and celebrates the graduation of
Bob Jones
mik smith
joe shmo
bob brown
Friday, 24 May at . . . . </p>

<p>Do you put a colon before the list of names?
Even if it follows the preposition?
thanks</p>

7

<p>SherBear: No. :slight_smile: And you also don’t want that ‘s’ on the end of celebrate.</p>

<p>Ellemenope: I had the same reaction!</p>

8

<p>thanks ellemenope.
oops on the celebrates.
i was given the draft of the invite, and it had a colon after the if.
i sent the draft back with the suggestion that the colon be removed.
but i had some trepidation . . . .</p>

9

<p>$15 includes gifts for the coaches.</p>

10

<p>^^^ Ha-ha! When in doubt…</p>

<p>Wow, a quick question thread has 8 (make that 9 :)) posts. So true, ellemenope!</p>

11

<p>You only need a colon if the sentence sets up a list with words like “the following”: </p>

<p>Come celebrate the graduations of the following students: Bob, Mary, etc…</p>

<p>Rule: If it could be read as a sentence without a pause, you don’t need a colon before the list of names. </p>

<p>Example: Come celebrate the graduations of Bob, Mary, etc…</p>

12

<p>If the question is whether or not the “coaches” should be possessive, just make it singular & see what makes sense. That is, try “$15 includes coach gift.” Or is “$15 includes coach’s gift” better? I vote for the latter. However, I like midmo’s idea better!</p>

13

<p>How about
“$15 includes a gift for each coach”</p>

14

<p>I think I’ve found my own answer???</p>

<p>COMMON MISUSES OF THE COLON

  1. Do not use a colon to separate a preposition from its objects.
    WRONG
    She was in charge of: registration, cabin assignments, and camp clean-up.
    CORRECT
    She was in charge of registration, cabin assignments, and camp clean-up.</p>
15

<p>“Coaches’ gifts” is correct, but I prefer the phrasing suggested by Thumper in #13.</p>

<p>Regarding the invitation, it would be better to lay out the names of the students in two short columns or something of that sort, and forget about commas and other punctuation. IMHO, the text of an invitation should be laid out attractively using centering and line breaks and the like, not treated as if it were a regular sentence.</p>

<p>[Once an editor…:slight_smile: ]</p>

16

<p>A noun ending in “s” and followed by a " ’ " makes the noun possessive. </p>

<p>(I just made a few nuns smile in their graves).</p>

17

<p>I have a question that relates to this subject. When a singular noun ends in an “s” - does one add just an apostrophe, or is apostrophe followed by another “s” correct? I found <em>rules</em> stating one way on some websites, the other way on different websites. When I subbed in an English class last year, the book stated the latter. Is it James’ book … or James’s book? </p>

<p>Is it “Mr. Kyriakis’s house” and “the Kyariakis’ house” (if the latter refers to the house owned by more than one Kyariakis family member)?</p>

<p>For the record, I am under the impression that it is James’s book and that the Kyriakis examples are correct. Please feel free to enlighten me if I am wrong!</p>

18

<p>kelsmom, you are correct with James (James’s book) and Mr. Kyriakis’s house. The home of all the Kyriakises together is the Kyriakises’ house (possessive of the plural). </p>

<p>If you (or a character in the book) might be the sort to speak in a sort of old-world-flavored way, and/or those Kryiakises have owned that house since Moses was floating in the bullrushes, you could conceivably refer to it as “the Kyriakis house” - no apostrophe.</p>

19

<p>Thanks everyone! I knew I could count on this board’s members, or should I say, the members of this board?!!</p>