I have written about this before, but I decided that every once in a while, I will write a grammar tip. Grammar and mechanics skills are starting to really go downhill and I get really tired of seeing the same mistakes over and over again. Not that I'm perfect, but I try to always look over my writing before I post to make sure the grammar and mechanics are correct. My 7th grade grammar teacher ground those grammar rules into our heads and always emphasized the importance of grammar and mechanics in literacy.
So, here is the tip of the day.
When making a word plural, the usual way is to add the letter "s" at the end. You do not ever add an apostrophe before the "s" to make it plural. This is a very common mistake I see in blogs and all over Facebook and it drives me positively bonkers.
Example:
"I can't wait for my kid's to go back to school."
should be
"I can't wait for my kids to go back to school."
The time that you actually use the apostrophe is when it's a possessive noun or a contraction:
Possessive:
My kid's bike (one kid, one bike)
My kids' bikes (more than one kid, more than one bike)
Contractions:
Cannot=can't
does not=doesn't
will not=won't
you all=y'all (This one is commonly wrong--you all is contracted y'all, not ya'll. If it was ya'll then it would be a contraction for ya all, not you all.)
And there you have it. Plural nouns, possessive nouns and contractions all rolled into one short lesson.
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