Punctuation?

[Satanist]

Ok so I'm trying to toilet train the boy at the moment. Its now so frustrating that we've resorted to bribery with one of those reward charts. I get in last night and the Mrs has her newly made chart pinned up and says "what do you think?".

Now I could have said I like the drawings or nice use of glitter but instead being the great husband I am went for "That's wrong".

So knowing this board settle a mild dispute and for a bit of a laugh tell me which one below is correct...

Adams star chart
Adam's star chart
Adams' star chart
Adams's star chart
None of the above, go back to school the pair of you.

Any other mistakes on this post can also be pointed out cos thats ow you learn fings innit.

[IndigoPrime]

On the assumption that your buy is called 'Adam', then the correct form is Adam's star chart.

Adams star chart = nonsensical action
Adam's star chart = the star chart of Adam
Adams' star chart = the star chart of the many Adams
Adams's star chart = the star chart of someone called 'Adams'

I usually explain apostrophes via the bakers and their knives:

The baker's knife: the knife belonging to the baker
The bakers' knife: the knife belonging to the bakers
The bakers knife: the action the psychotic bakers perform

[Bolt-01]

I choose the third option.

Bolt-01

[IndigoPrime]

And I meant 'boy', obv. It's too early to be sub-editing - even forum posts!

[House of Usher]

I'll go first.

It's "Adam's star chart", isn't it?

Who'd have thought astrology would be a useful aid to toilet training? Very resourceful!

[Keef Monkey]

If their first name was Adam I'd go with Adam's star chart, and if the surname was Adams it would be Adams' star chart? Mind you, I'm still struggling with its/it's so probably not the best person to ask.

[Keef Monkey]

Jings, all those replies came in while I was typing, shows I'm not the best to ask as I'm typing with one finger here.

[House of Usher]

When I say "first", I mean of course one minute after the estimable IndigoPrime and Bolt-01.

[Pete Wells]

Yup, number two is the winner, coincidental that, what with it being a poo chart and all.

However, if you were to ask any of the teenagers I teach it would be ***AdAmZ StAr ChArT!!!***



twats...

[johnnystress]

Doesn't "Adam's star chart" mean "Adam is star chart"?

[Grant Goggans]

No, it means "the star chart belonging to Adam."

[IndigoPrime]

"Doesn't "Adam's star chart" mean "Adam is star chart"?"

See my baker/knife example. Essentially, in written English, 's can denote ownership (typically referred to  as the possessive form). However, it can also be used as a contraction. Therefore, depending on context, Craig's may mean 'Craig is', 'Craig has' or 'The thing belonging to Craig', e.g.:

Craig's going to go to the Post Office soon
Craig's just been to the Post Offie
Craig's letter is waiting at the Post Office

Pluralisation in English is most commonly done by adding an 's': dogs, cats, monkeys, etc. In the vast majority of cases, adding an apostrophe is totally incorrect (hence the term 'Greengrocer's apostrophe', because you often see them selling 'apple's and potato's'). Some style guides allow such plural forms after things like 'CD', but I personally think that's vulgar and bullshit, and it's largely done to get around style guide restrictions anyway (for example, when titles are in all-caps).

The main exception to the possessive form is the word 'it'. Here, there is no apostrophe - the possessive form is 'its'. The form 'it's' means 'it is' or 'it has'.

And, yes, I'm going to be spending most of my afternoon editing...

[Mike Carroll]

"Adam's star chart" means both "Adam is star chart" and "the star chart belonging to Adam."

A solution to the eternal "it's" / "its" conundrum: If you can replace the word with "it is" or "it has" then the apostrophe is required. Otherwise, no apostrophe! Ta-daa!

- Mike

[Noisybast]

I'd just like to add that the no-apostrophe option could conceivably be used if the star chart was one of many designed or produced by a person or company named Adams. See "Phillips Screwdriver".

[IndigoPrime]

""Adam's star chart" means both "Adam is star chart" and "the star chart belonging to Adam.""

Of course, it's all down to context, though. In the context of a piece of signage, ownership is significantly more likely. That said, most of the illiterate graphic designers doing signs for shops haven't entirely grasped the convention of the possessive form.