I'm in the middle of grading a slew of essays for another group of students, and it's making me a bit ... um ...
Well, let's just say, one of my pet peeves is being prodded (and you know what they say about poking a bear with a stick?).
It's this whole issue of possessives versus plurals. I wrote an entire blog about possessive use in April 2014 (please read it for even more detail), but because it is front of mind, I thought I'd post a quick refresher.
Possessive form is NOT the same as plural. Possessive form means ownership. Plural means more than one. They are not interchangeable. HOWEVER, there is such a thing as plural possessive (ownership by more than one)... have I confused you yet?
Let's take them one at a time.
Possessive form:
It is the student's book. (In other words, the book belongs to one student.)
Plural:
Several students bought their books. (In other words, more than one student bought books.)
Plural possessive:
The students' books are on the table, (In other words, the books of more than one student are on the table.)
It's really very simple.
So let's take a little quiz.
A student writes:
The stories theme is about fate.
Questions: Is she writing about multiples stories? Then the word stories should still be possessive, and the noun and verb need to be changed. Is she writing about a single story? Then the word stories should be single possessive.
If it's the first (multiple stories), then the sentence should be:
The stories' themes are about fate.
If it's the second (single story), the the sentence should be:
The story's theme is about fate.
Again, I go into much more detail in the entry I mentioned above. If this is something you struggle with, PLEASE review that entry.
Okay. I'm glad I got that off my chest. Now, back to grading!
Keep pen to paper!
Prof. Rinehart
