On Wed, 23 Jan 2002 19:05:32 -0500, "PCBman" <pcbman_at_ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>
> Ok Frank, as an Englishman I feel qualified to answer this.
Uh, I think maybe you've had a dram to many, cuz.
> Use 's when the subject is plural (more than one).
>
> Use s' when you are referring to something that belongs to the person or
> thing.
You've got this backwards. [Will the guy who has Strunk & White in his .sig
please pipe up?] [Two countries, separated by a common tongue.]
Fred's car. Cisco's routers. [Cisco is a singular entity!] Employees' group
display.
A sometimes exception to posessive: Some of us with names that end in the
letter "s" prefer to simply add a trailing apostrophe for the posessive. e.g.
"That that's the Beals' tree in the annual holiday display." This is because
we don't want to sound like snakes.
> > Thanks alot in advance. As I'm sure that for all you native speakers
> > out there the answer isn't too interesting, a private reply might
> > be appropriate.
Which is what I initially did.
> > I wish I had listened more closely back then
> > when I had a chance at school.
Your English is far better than my semester or two of German in college! I
fake my way through Stern and am able to navigate yahoo.de well enough to send
photos to my dad and favorite uncle ... and of course know *the* essential
German phrase: "Ein Bier, bitte!"
Tschuss!
andy
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