In Chapter three of Woe is I, O’Conner discusses the proper use of possession. This was an area of grammar I learnt early on and therefore thought I had a solid idea of how to use it. However, even by the second page, O’Conner had dismantled one of my believes. I always thought that if the subject ended in the letter “s” you used an apostrophe (without another “s”) to show possession. Yet, O’Conner states very clearly that the ending is not as important as whether it is singular or plural. Her belief is if it is singular it is always followed by a “ ‘s ” to indicate possession. The only time when no “s” is added after the apostrophe is when the subject is plural and ends in the letter “s”.
Although this information is very enlightening, it really took me by surprise. Grammar is one part of writing that we have been drilled with since we first started school. Because of this, I always thought I had a decent grasp on common concepts in grammar. It can be quite rattling to find out that your life time beliefs are untrue! However, I suppose I would rather find out now, when I am able to change my habits, rather then continuing to make the same grammatical errors. This is why continuing to learn and be open minded in writing is so important.
I found this "s" situation very interesting as well. I totally thought the same thing. You are so right, being open minded is extremely important when writing. I feel that there is always more to learn, which I guess is a good thing but sometimes can be overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteYah this caught me by surprise too. But I'm still a bit skeptical and wonder if maybe it's a grey area or a matter of personal preference?
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that this rule when pointed out to people is fairly simple to grasp. Yet I find for myself that it is one of the more difficult ones to catch yourself doing in the moment. I write it and don't notice it and then when proof reading somehow skip over it again, even though I understand it.
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