时间:2018-12-01 作者:英语课 分类:跟谢孟媛学语法


英语课

by Mignon Fogarty


This week in the United States we celebrate Veterans Day, a holiday to remember the end of World War I in 1918, but the name of the holiday brings up a common question: Do we need an apostrophe in the word “Veterans”?

The short answer is no, because the U.S. government gave the holiday its official name, and they chose to write it without the apostrophe, but in today’s episode, we’ll explore why it’s grammatically correct with or without an apostrophe.

The podcast edition of this article was sponsored by StyleEase Software. Get 15% off StyleEase for APA, MLA, or Chicago/Turabian Style Software at www.styleease.com/ggpodcast.html (or, with the coupon 1 code: ggpodcast)


Since many people are confused, you’ve probably seen "Veterans Day" written three ways:

 The right way: Veterans Day

 Another potentially right way: Veterans’ Day

 The wrong way: Veteran’s Day

 

Avoid the Singular Possessive

Let’s address the wrong way first. If you put the apostrophe before the final “s” in “Veterans,” you’re making the singular word “Veteran” possessive. You’re saying it is the day of a single veteran or a day to celebrate a single veteran, and that’s clearly wrong. It’s a day for all veterans.

There are many phrases like “Veterans Day” where this issue comes up. You often see things like “writer's strike,” “homeowner's association” and “farmer's market” written with the apostrophe before the final “s” in the first word, and it’s wrong. All these phrases refer to groups--writers, homeowners, and farmers--they are not describing the strike, association, or market of a single person.

Some style guides, such as the Guardian 2 Style Guide, do, however, remind us to use the singular form for phrases such as “writer’s cramp 3” and “collector’s item.” It’s the cramp of one writer and the item of one collector. When in doubt, check a good dictionary; it will often give you the correct spelling of such phrases.

An Apostrophe Makes a Plural 4 Possessive

But it gets trickier 5 with the remaining two choices. If you put an apostrophe at the end of the word “Veterans,” you’re making the plural possessive. You’re saying it is the day of the Veterans--the day that belongs to the Veterans--and that’s true, at least at some level.

Further, the possessive case is also called the genitive case, and its use isn’t limited strictly 6 to possession in the “I own this car” kind of way. It can be used to show other kinds of relationships. For example, if I say “George is Juan’s brother,” “Juan’s” has an apostrophe “s” a the end, but I’m not implying that Juan owns George. Using “Veterans’” with an apostrophe at the end is certainly a legitimate 7 way to describe Veterans Day.

No Apostrophe Makes “Veterans” an Adjective

If you don’t put an apostrophe at the end of “Veterans,” you’re using the word as an adjective that modifies “Day.” Just as “tree” tells you what kind of farm I’m talking about in the phrase “tree farm,” and “golf” tells you what kind of club I’m talking about in the phrase “golf club,” “Veterans” tells you what kind of day I’m talking about in the phrase “Veterans Day.” It’s also a legitimate way to describe the holiday. Nouns used as adjectives like this are sometimes called attributives.

I can’t find the reference, but I remember reading somewhere that it’s becoming more common for people to drop the apostrophe and choose the adjective form.

People Will Argue About Apostrophes

I should note that there are credible 8 people who firmly believe an apostrophe is required on phrases such as “Veterans Day” and “farmers market.” It can be a contentious 9 topic, and ultimately it’s a style choice. You may have to defend your choice no matter which one you make.

Deciding Whether You Want a Possessive or an Adjective

The key question I ask myself when deciding whether to use an apostrophe is to consider whether I’m truly talking about possession. If I am, I need an apostrophe. If I’m not, I use the adjective.

Capitalizing Holiday Names

Finally, “Veterans Day” is capitalized because it is the name of a holiday which makes it a proper noun. We capitalize the names of all official holidays in English.

 



1 coupon
n.息票,配给票,附单
  • The coupon can be used once only.此优惠券只限使用一次。
  • I have a coupon for ten pence off a packet of soap.我有一张优惠券买一盒肥皂可以便宜十便士。
2 guardian
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者
  • The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
  • The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。
3 cramp
n.痉挛;[pl.](腹)绞痛;vt.限制,束缚
  • Winston stopped writing,partly because he was suffering from cramp.温斯顿驻了笔,手指也写麻了。
  • The swimmer was seized with a cramp and had to be helped out of the water.那个在游泳的人突然抽起筋来,让别人帮着上了岸。
4 plural
n.复数;复数形式;adj.复数的
  • Most plural nouns in English end in's '.英语的复数名词多以s结尾。
  • Here you should use plural pronoun.这里你应该用复数代词。
5 trickier
adj.狡猾的( tricky的比较级 );(形势、工作等)复杂的;机警的;微妙的
  • This is the general rule, but some cases are trickier than others. 以上是一般规则,但某些案例会比别的案例更为棘手。 来自互联网
  • The lower the numbers go, the trickier the problems get. 武器的数量越低,问题就越复杂。 来自互联网
6 strictly
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地
  • His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
  • The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。
7 legitimate
adj.合法的,合理的,合乎逻辑的;v.使合法
  • Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
  • That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。
8 credible
adj.可信任的,可靠的
  • The news report is hardly credible.这则新闻报道令人难以置信。
  • Is there a credible alternative to the nuclear deterrent?是否有可以取代核威慑力量的可靠办法?
9 contentious
adj.好辩的,善争吵的
  • She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
  • Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起,他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。
学英语单词
acceptee
air vents
Alderholt
alienigenate
angle of geodesic coutingence
anisonucleolinosis
ASX All Ordinaries Index
authorization to use
auxiliary sixth-four chord
axotomous antimony
backfired
bank-loan
barometeric height
base population
binary-coded decimal
blocked out time
bonus to directors
break it up
bronchophthisis
cannella
car alarms
cash break-even analysis
catabolergy
cellular differentiation
choisya
current collecting
debaucheries
demagogically
discharging pallet
dospat (dhespatis potamos)
dramatica
egtrra
electric transmission current meter
escape condition
fleaing
Fun money
galaga
genus Polyporus
go with everything
gracious me
holds up
image focusing electrode
inherited pedological features
interbasin water transfer planning
isodextran
jowel
Karkamb
kary-
kelly platform
laitier
lapponicas
lisas
metrocyte
misfeasance summons
multiple pin
multipurpose conveyer
myurocloda concinna (wils) besch.
negative Nancy
network-baseds
next track
night-soil
occupied section
office-party
order Carnivora
outlet area
paddock grazing method
particle beam
pattinsonizing
physical aging
plaster indices
Principality of Albania
production to traffic coefficient
psophomete
quasi particle
quick cell facility
regulating capacity
repeating coil
respiratory orifice
sand-catcher
sapphiric
sciba
scoleco
selvage wire rope
semigloss paint
Seven Years War
siliconeventricularcanul
sjsaspsasnsessses-s
spread variable capacitor
spring loaded scraper
Streptomyces violaceolatus
strip breakage
sublingual duct
synucleopathies
thermatron
torsion curve
transaction processing
turbulizer
two-step design
type 1 batch
vulnerose
welded ball
xenoandrogenicity