Collins Cobuild English Grammar (192 page)

I heard the
girls
’ steps on the stairs.
We often go to
publishers
’ parties in Bloomsbury.

However, if you are using an irregular plural noun that does not end in
s
, you add apostrophe
s
(’s) to the end of it.

It would cost at least three policemen’s salaries per year.
The Equal Pay Act has failed to bring women’s earnings up to the same level.

…
children’s
birthday parties.

R35
    If something belongs to more than one person or thing whose names are linked by
and
, the apostrophe
s
(’s) is put after the second name.

…
Martin and Tim’s
apartment. …
Colin and Mary’s
wedding.

R36
    If you want to say that two people or things each possess part of a group of things, both their names have apostrophe
s
(’s).

The puppy was a superb blend of his
father’s and mother’s
best qualities.

R37
    When you are using a name that already ends in
s
, you can simply add an apostrophe, for example
St James
’
Palace
, or you can add apostrophe
s
(’s), for example
St James’s Palace
. These spellings are pronounced differently. If you simply add an apostrophe, the pronunciation remains unaltered, whereas if you add apostrophe
s
(’s), the possessive is pronounced
/
I
z/
.

R38
    Apostrophe
s
(’s) is pronounced differently in different words. It is pronounced

/
S
/
after the sound
/f/
,
/k/
,
/p/
,
/t/
, or
/θ/
.

/
I
z/
after the sound
/
S
/
,
/z/
,
/ʃ/
,
/ʒ/
,
/tʃ/
, or
/ʤ/
.

/z/
after all other sounds.

R39
    If you are using a compound noun, you add apostrophe
s
(’s) to the last item in the compound.

He went to his
mother-in-law’s
house.
The parade assembled in the
Detective Constable’s
room.

R40
    Apostrophe
s
(’s) can be added to abbreviations and acronyms in the same way as to other words.

He will get a majority of
MPs
’ votes in both rounds.
He found the
BBC’s
output, on balance, superior to that of ITV.
The majority of
NATO’s
members agreed.

Numbers

R41
    The uses of
cardinal numbers
,
ordinal numbers
, and
fractions
have been explained in
Chapter 2
(
2.208
to
2.249
). The use of ordinals to express dates is explained in paragraph
4.88
. Lists of numbers and details about how to say and write numbers and fractions are given below.

Cardinal numbers

R42
    Here is a list of cardinal numbers. The list shows the patterns of forming numbers greater than 20.

R43
    When you say or write in words a number over 100, you put
and
before the number expressed by the last two figures. For example, 203 is said or written
two hundred and three
and 2840 is said or written
two thousand, eight hundred and forty
.

Four hundred and eighteen
men were killed and a
hundred and seventeen
wounded.

    
And
is often omitted in American English.

…
one hundred fifty
dollars.

R44
    If you want to say or write in words a number between 1000 and 1,000,000, there are various ways of doing it. For example, the number
1872
can be said or written in words as

eighteen hundred and seventy-two

one thousand eight hundred and seventy-two