某些专有名词的所有格形式不太容易处理,如"Sunday's football game" (周日的足球赛)从某种意义上来说是错误的,因为周日和足球赛并没有所属关系,但人们确实经常这么用。另一个例子,"A hard day's work"(辛劳一天的工作) 也被广泛使用并接受,尽管工作(work)是并不属于天(day)的。
如果家庭的姓是以”s”结尾的,则先把它变复数再加撇号。例如,如果你想说Williams一家,那么就将它变成复数形式”the Williamses”,如果你想说Williams他们家的狗,就成了“the Williamses’ dog”。如果那个姓这样说起来实在太别扭了,那就稍微隔开一下,说成“the Williams family”和“the Williams family's dog”。
如果你在列举拥有同一样物品的多个人,那要注意撇号的位置哦。例如,如果John和Mary两个人共有一只猫,你应该写成“John and Mary's cat”而不是“John's and Mary's cat”。在这里, “John and Mary” 是一个聚合的名词词组,可以看成一个词,所以只需要一个撇号。
方法 2 的 4:
忌用撇号表复数
{"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.zenmeban.com\/images_en\/thumb\/2\/24\/Use-Apostrophes-Step-5.jpg\/v4-460px-Use-Apostrophes-Step-5.jpg","bigUrl":"https:\/\/www.zenmeban.com\/images\/thumb\/2\/24\/Use-Apostrophes-Step-5.jpg\/v4-728px-Use-Apostrophes-Step-5.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"<div class=\"mw-parser-output\"><\/div>"}
1
通常来说,我们不用撇号来表示复数形式,犯这种错误会被叫做greengrocer's apostrophe, since grocers are often the worst (or at least the most visible) offenders.如果你有很多苹果,用apples而不是apple's.
有一个例外,那就是表示单个字母的复数形式。所以“Why are there so many 'i’s' in the word 'indivisibility'?”是正确的,因为句意是问为什么有那么多个i,所以i’s,而不is的意思。但是现在人们也使用另一种方法,那就是先把那个字母用引号圈起来,然后再加表复数的s,例如上个句子可写成:“Why are there so many 'I's in the word 'indivisibility'?”
和小于或等于十的数字一起时把数字拼写出来,如"ones" 而不是 "1's," "fours" 而不是 "4s","nines" 而不是"9's"。Only spell out words of numerals that are ten or lower.
{"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.zenmeban.com\/images_en\/thumb\/b\/bc\/Use-Apostrophes-Step-7.jpg\/v4-460px-Use-Apostrophes-Step-7.jpg","bigUrl":"https:\/\/www.zenmeban.com\/images\/thumb\/b\/bc\/Use-Apostrophes-Step-7.jpg\/v4-728px-Use-Apostrophes-Step-7.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"<div class=\"mw-parser-output\"><\/div>"}
1
在一些不那幺正式的书写中,撇号常常以省字词的形式出现,用以表示省去的一到多个字母。例如,"don't" 是 "do not"的缩减形式,类似的例子还有 "isn't," "wouldn't," 和 "can't"。缩略形式还可以用在"is," "has," 和"have"这些动词身上,例如,我们可以写"She's going to school" 来代替"She is going to school"; 或是"He's lost the game"来代替"He has lost the game"。
{"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.zenmeban.com\/images_en\/thumb\/b\/b3\/Use-Apostrophes-Step-8.jpg\/v4-460px-Use-Apostrophes-Step-8.jpg","bigUrl":"https:\/\/www.zenmeban.com\/images\/thumb\/b\/b3\/Use-Apostrophes-Step-8.jpg\/v4-728px-Use-Apostrophes-Step-8.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"<div class=\"mw-parser-output\"><\/div>"}
2
小心its/it's的陷阱。在it后加撇号一定只有两种情况:"it is"或是"it has"。另外,it可作为代词,而代词有自己的所有格形式,不需要撇号。例如,"That noise? It's just the dog eating its bone." (是什么声音?那是狗啃它的骨头的声音。)可能有一点容易混淆,但是只要记住作为代词的所有格形式的its和其他所有格形式的代词一样,如his, hers, its, yours, ours, theirs.