Possessives

“… its on sale …”

Apostrophes, Common English Blunders, Contractions, Possessives

I saw this today in an online news article about the recent launch of the Sprint XOHM service in Baltimore, Maryland.

Problem:
An apostrophe is missing.

Explanation:
The complete sentence was You can attach one of four service plans to your XOHM devices: The “home” plan works with the home modem, for 35 a month (its on sale through December 31st for25), the “On the go” plan is for the ExpressCard, at 45 a month (30 on sale.), and “Pick 2” lets you get two devices (a modem and a card, for instance) for 65 a month (50 on sale).

The word “its” — spelled I-T-S — is a possessive pronoun.

The article writer is trying to say that the home-plan service is on sale through December 31, 2008, with “it” substituting for the name of this service.

In other words, the expression should have been written with the contraction form of “it is” in “… it is on sale …”.

Solution:
“… it’s on sale …”

“The reason’s why are threefold:”

Apostrophes, Plurals, Possessives

I saw this at Freetricity.com.

Problem:
An apostrophe appears where it should not.

Explanation:
“The reason’s why are threefold:” — with an apostrophe between the noun “reason” and the letter “s” — appeared on a Freetricity.com Web page about the E2D Windmaster and the three reasons that less than 3% of U.S. homes have a renewable energy-source product.

An apostrophe has very limited use in the formation of a plural noun. Here are the situations:

  1. to form plurals of lower-case letters;
  2. to form groups of years;
  3. to form plurals of numbers;
  4. to form plurals of symbols;
  5. to form plurals of some short words.

However, most authorities recommend omission of the apostrophe for situations 2 through 4, given that there is no possibility of misreading when the apostrophe is omitted.

Given that the noun “reason” does not match any of these five situations, we have the solution.

Solution:
“The reasons why are threefold:”

“Natures Family”

Apostrophes, Nouns, Possessives

I saw this on a bottle of body wash.

Problem:
A possessive apostrophe is missing.

Explanation:
The noun “nature” is rarely pluralized, given its dominant definitions.

One definition for which pluralization makes sense is the fundamental disposition or temperament of a person.

However, that particular definition would be inconsistent with body wash.

Instead, the “Natures Family” brand alludes to the botanical elements in the body wash.

Given that no trademark symbol appeared adjacent to the “Natures Family” brand, which would have implied that the lack of punctuation was intentional, I have to conclude that the omission of a possessive apostrophe was an error.

Solution:
“Nature’s Family”