'Apostroph'. It's the French word for apostrophe. I saw a sign today that read "Buses and Authorized Vehicle's Only" and it occurred to me that the problem isn't the apostrophe, it's what lies beneath.
I remember many years ago, when I was at college as an undergraduate, students were signing in to the matricaluation book with their names and their year of graduation but instead of writing Mary Smith '90, they were writing Mary Smith 90'. See the difference? The apostrophe BEFORE the 90 means that something has been omitted (the '19'). The apostrophe AFTER the 90, means that something has been left out as well, but it ain't the 19. Seems to me that what's been left out there is the understanding. This is not a situation where either notation could be right. One is right, the other quite simply, is not. The way language evolves though, for all I know, it's now considered perfectly acceptable to shorten the date in that way. Pity.
When I saw today's sign, I wondered about the understanding that informed the writing. It seemed to me that neither the writer nor the maker of the sign (and this was no paper sign stuck on a window, no indeed, this was a permanent sign with a metal sign post in the sidewalk) knew the difference between "vehicles"and "vehicle's".
I suppose you could say that it's no big deal but I don't think that's really the case. For every sentence I write, there's a right way to write it and a wrong way. Let's just take that last sentence right there: For every sentence I right, theirs a write way to right it and a wrong way. Now tell me that it's just an apostrophe or it's just a simple spelling mistake. It really ain't. There's right and there's write.
What lies beneath? If you don't know the significance of the apostrophe, or the significance of 'their' vs 'there'; 'right' or 'write' those are not simply spelling challenges, those are potentially comprehension challenges. When we don't comprehend the basics of language, how then do we comprehend the far more complex things that language communicates? As very young children, we learn to read. Later, we read to learn. At some point, our reading should inform our ability to understand and to make ourselves understood, either in speech or in writing. This isn't about writing well. I'm not asking anyone to be this generation's Shakespeare, I'm just saying that we should know the difference between 'vehicles' = more than one car and 'vehicle's' = belonging to the vehicle. Knowing what it is you want to communicate (possession (vehicle's) vs plural (vehicles) vs omission ('90) in the case of the apostrophe), is a good place to start. As for 'there' and 'they're' or 'their', that's a whole other story.
"They're going to leave their vehicle's tires over there". Maybe it's time to bring back dictation in the classroom.
I remember many years ago, when I was at college as an undergraduate, students were signing in to the matricaluation book with their names and their year of graduation but instead of writing Mary Smith '90, they were writing Mary Smith 90'. See the difference? The apostrophe BEFORE the 90 means that something has been omitted (the '19'). The apostrophe AFTER the 90, means that something has been left out as well, but it ain't the 19. Seems to me that what's been left out there is the understanding. This is not a situation where either notation could be right. One is right, the other quite simply, is not. The way language evolves though, for all I know, it's now considered perfectly acceptable to shorten the date in that way. Pity.
When I saw today's sign, I wondered about the understanding that informed the writing. It seemed to me that neither the writer nor the maker of the sign (and this was no paper sign stuck on a window, no indeed, this was a permanent sign with a metal sign post in the sidewalk) knew the difference between "vehicles"and "vehicle's".
I suppose you could say that it's no big deal but I don't think that's really the case. For every sentence I write, there's a right way to write it and a wrong way. Let's just take that last sentence right there: For every sentence I right, theirs a write way to right it and a wrong way. Now tell me that it's just an apostrophe or it's just a simple spelling mistake. It really ain't. There's right and there's write.
What lies beneath? If you don't know the significance of the apostrophe, or the significance of 'their' vs 'there'; 'right' or 'write' those are not simply spelling challenges, those are potentially comprehension challenges. When we don't comprehend the basics of language, how then do we comprehend the far more complex things that language communicates? As very young children, we learn to read. Later, we read to learn. At some point, our reading should inform our ability to understand and to make ourselves understood, either in speech or in writing. This isn't about writing well. I'm not asking anyone to be this generation's Shakespeare, I'm just saying that we should know the difference between 'vehicles' = more than one car and 'vehicle's' = belonging to the vehicle. Knowing what it is you want to communicate (possession (vehicle's) vs plural (vehicles) vs omission ('90) in the case of the apostrophe), is a good place to start. As for 'there' and 'they're' or 'their', that's a whole other story.
"They're going to leave their vehicle's tires over there". Maybe it's time to bring back dictation in the classroom.
