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A return to apostrophes is inevitable. My consulting work began with a frantic call from an ad agency saying, "We don't understand hyphens," but much the same could be said for the rules for apostrophe use.

The rules can be easily memorized, but it's the application of these rules that's the problem.

Case in point: Should wearing apparel be referred to as "boy's clothing" or "boys'" clothing?

The first step in answering the question is to ask another question: Does the phrase refer to one boy or more than one? Logically, boys must be plural in this context.

The rule dictates that an apostrophe follow the s in a plural word, so boys' is correct.

This example highlights the fact that in English, the s has several purposes:

• An ending for third person singular verbs: she does, it moves, he cooks

• An ending for most plural nouns: sisters, balloons, circumstances

• The possessive: The apostrophe plus an s is used to form the singular possessive (monkey's, governor's, dress's)

The fact that the s can be involved in both plurals and possessives is a major source of confusion. When deciding whether to use an apostrophe, you must determine how the s is being used-as part of a possessive, a plural, or both.

Examples:

• My dogs' collars were given to them by a friend (assume more than one dog).

In this sentence, dogs is plural, and so is collars. However, collars doesn't have an apostrophe because it's just a plural used as the subject of the sentence.

Dogs is not just plural; it's possessive. Like other adjective forms, it describes the following noun. Since there is more than one dog, the apostrophe must follow the s. If there had been just one dog, the word would be spelled dog's.

As an editor and proofreader, I spend more time checking hyphen rules than anything else. Not that they’re the most important grammar issue—rather, there are just so many little rules and complexities and inconsistencies. Here are just a few.

• Generally, phrases that comprise a single idea are hyphenated if they precede the word they modify. Example: The best-loved novelist of the nineteenth century was probably Charles Dickens.
   

• However, a little-known companion rule states that hyphens are not used in a similar phrase whose first word (an adverb) ends in -ly. Example: Illegally obtained diamonds are often smuggled in packages of Twinkies. (The sentence and the rule are both a bit weird.)
   

• A major source of confusion involves verb-adverb combinations.

Sometimes these combinations are hyphenated and sometimes they aren’t (e.g., sign up, stand in, shut down, write off).

The rule is that they are NEVER hyphenated when used as verbs.

Example: You can sign up at the back table. Contrary to what you were taught in English class, up is essentially a part of the verb phrase, even though it’s an adverb.

Corollary Example: Sign-up sheets are at the back table. (This time the phrase is a single idea used as an adjective to modify sheets.)

Exasperating Example: Sometimes these phrases are used as nouns, and sometimes, as either adjectives or nouns, they are written as one word rather than hyphenated! Unfortunately, there is no pattern to follow! You have to look them up or memorize them.

Example: The planned shutdown was scheduled to begin at midnight. (But “The plant was shut down at midnight.)

There are more little ins and outs. I’ll roll them out next month as a special holiday gift.

TIPS FOR DECEMBER 2005

As I promised, here is part two of my review of hyphenation rules. You may want to look back at last month’s tips if you haven’t seen them already or need to brush up. 

• First, some common two-word phrases are not hyphenated—e.g., real estate and high school. Similar groupings in specific industries can likewise not be hyphenated, as not doing so won’t interfere with understanding.
   

• Now we move on to a much bigger issue: hyphenation of prefixes. It will be big news to a lot of people that the rules (or, more correctly, practices) have changed dramatically. 
   

• The major shift is that most prefixes are no longer hyphenated. The word prefix is an example of a word that has been one word for as long as I’ve been around, but the word semicolon has been written as one word by most people only since the 1990s. 

Other examples: nonprofit, coordinated, substandard, overarching, disinterested, nonstop.

It would not be helpful to give you a list of the prefixes that are or are not hyphenated—after all, the list may change tomorrow! Best advice: check a recent dictionary or a reference work like the Gregg Reference Manual.

Junk Pile: Here are a few other examples of words that are routinely misspelled, either by hyphenating or not hyphenating or by writing them as one word: byproduct, online, under way.

Aside: many people are surprised to learn that there are two dash lengths—not to be confused with hyphens. The hyphen (-) is on your keyboard; the dashes aren’t on my iBook and probably not on most PCs.

You make the dash pushing the hyphen key plus one or two others. The “en” dash (so named because it’s the length of the “n”) looks like this: (–). The “em” dash, which is the length of the “m,” is obviously longer: (—). This dash is used only between words—see what I mean?

However, the shorter dash can also be used in this situation – just be consistent. The same goes for spaces before and after dashes. 

TIPS FOR JANUARY 2006

No jokes about New Year's resolutions; no hounding you to watch your grammar and punctuation next year. Instead, I'm inviting you to learn about some of the changing patterns (for good or ill–mostly ill) in regard to meanings of English words and phrases.

• Damage vs. damages:

Traditionally, damage is a noun without a plural when it refers to the negative results of accidents, natural disasters, etc. For example, "We had very little damage from the tornado, but others in our neighborhood did."

Damages is a legal term referring to awards resulting from a lawsuit. However, you won't find this distinction in most dictionaries. These days, more and more people are using damages to refer to injury or harm. This trend has a good chance of becoming permanent.

• Onset, outset:

The dictionary won't help you here: the definition for both is "beginning" or "start." In the past, onset has been reserved for use in the context of wars and disease (e.g., "The onset of the flu is often characterized by chills and fever").

In recent years, however, onset is being used to refer to the beginning of anything. This shift is another change that could stick.

• Further, farther:

This pair causes constant confusion. Farther is supposed by some to refer only to physical distance, and that's the way I use it, but my dictionary says otherwise.

Further is supposed by these same people to mean "to a greater extent or degree" or "in addition." However, most dictionaries have virtually the same meanings for both words.

Technically, then, they're almost interchangeable, so we've lost the distinction between the two meanings. It's commonplace for further to be used to refer to physical distance. Interestingly, though, we never say, "We'll discuss the matter farther."

• Avoid, prevent:

One meaning of avoid is "to keep away from" or "evade"; another is "to keep from happening." These meanings involve different situations. In the former, you would try to evade something already in existence; in the latter, you would try to keep something from ever taking place.

Prevent is used only in the latter sense, so I use avoid only in the first sense to keep the two meanings distinct.

• Hone, home:

Hone means "to sharpen"; home (as a verb) means "to focus," such as homing in on a target. However, hone is more frequently used instead of home in this context. This incorrect usage is rampant, but my guess is that it will never become standard.

• Averse, adverse:

This pair has a common root but different grammatical uses, even though they are both adjectives. Averse means "unwilling" or "opposed to." Adverse means "unfavorable" or "harmful."

Here's the difference, illustrated in sentences:

• I am averse to the idea of universal military service for high school graduates. In this sentence averse is a predicate adjective (following the verb and modifying the subject).

• Despite adverse circumstances as a child, she rose to a position of influence and power. Here, adverse is required because of its position preceding and modifying a noun.

A common mistake is using adverse as a predicate adjective: e.g., "He is adverse to eating broccoli." Who knows whether the distinction between these two words will become permanently blurred?

TIPS FOR MARCH 2006

Up is perhaps the most versatile word in the English language. It can be used as a noun (ups and downs), a verb (up the ante), and an adjective (I had an up day) as well as an adverb and a preposition—its original jobs, and thus the two most common uses.

One way to tell the difference between the use of up (and similar words) as an adverb and a preposition is what I call the “mobility test.” The axiom is that adverbs are mobile and prepositions are not.

For example, in the sentence “She looked up the pipe, up is in a fixed position, as it cannot logically be moved to another place in the sentence. Thus it's a preposition.

But the sentence “She looked up the number” can also be written “She looked the number up.” This up is obviously an adverb. Note also that the first sentence is literal (up is a physical direction), but the second sentence features a verb-adverb combination with a nondirectional meaning.

One of the distinctives of English is the complexity of these verb-adverb combinations. When I was a student, these combinations were treated in a more rigid way than they are today. Currently these combinations are often considered as UNITS; in other words, the two words function together as a single verb.

Up is one of the most ubiquitous adverbs of this type (I characterize these adverbs as fleas on dogs—dogs being the verbs). Up has more than one meaning in these situations—far beyond its reference to direction. Often up is redundant (and thus has no meaning), but sometimes it's essential to the grammar of a sentence, and its combination with a verb creates a new meaning.

Note this list of verb/adverb common combinations: add up, back up, boil up, brighten up, brush up, burn up, call up, clean up, close up, come up, dress up, finish up, fix up, follow up, get up, give up, grow up, head up, line up, lock up, look up, open up, polish up, set up, shake up, shut up, sit up, speak up, stir up, suck up, think up, throw up, wake up, warm up, whip up, work up, write up.

Generally speaking, up is redundant in the bolded combinations above. For instance, there is no difference between saying polish up and polish the furniture. To head up a committee is the same as to head one.

However, there is a difference between call up (as in being tapped for military service) and call up (as in making a telephone call)—with the latter having a redundant up.

In most cases, adding up brings a new meaning. To grow up is different from to grow; throw up is far different from throw. Speak and speak up likewise have significantly different meanings, as do shape and shape up.

Overall, my suggestion is that you listen up, wise up, and then shape up in regard to this little matter. Next month I'll discuss punctuation of verb-adverb combinations.

TIPS FOR APRIL 2006

As I discussed in March, one of the distinctives of English is the complexity of its verb-adverb combinations. Sometimes these pairs function as true verbs plus adverbs, sometimes as adjectives, and sometimes as nouns. Some of the most common adverbs that appear in these pairs are in, out, up, over, by, and down.

This versatility makes English very interesting, but, alas, it creates punctuation problems. Writers have to know the grammatical constructions in order to know whether or not to hyphenate these critters.

Let’s look first at the easiest type: the verb plus adverb. The rule is simple: NEVER hyphenate these combinations.

Examples: You can pick out your graduation dress next week. Plants will be set out after the thaw. “Brush up your Shakespeare; start quoting him now” (from Kiss Me, Kate).

Now for something more problematic: the verb-adverb combination as adjective. You’ll notice that in the examples below, this form is sometimes hyphenated and at other times written as one word.

You will never be able to predict which way is correct: there is no pattern, and the spelling of a given term may change without warning. Some dictionaries will choose one way and some the other. Your spell checker is probably outdated, so your best bet is to use the very latest dictionary.

Examples: Startup companies face many challenges. (Note that startup precedes and modifies companies.) He always functions as the set-up man. (Set-up modifies man.) Checkout time is noon. Drive-by shootings are rare in this area.

Last is the verb-adverb combination as noun. The same issue about hyphenation rears its ugly head here.

Examples: He was put in the lockup again last weekend after the sit-in. The shakedown terrified the neighbors. Employee turnover at Wal-Mart is very high.