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J Smith - 18 Jun 2005 16:43 GMT

Hi, I have a few questions about English usage:

1. I've noticed some people use "'phone" as an abbreviation for
"telephone", is this correct and if so which is more correct; "phone"
or "'phone"?

2. If I was writing about something owned by Bob, a pen for example, I
would write "Bob's pen". If the name was Jones I would write "Jones'
pen". But if it the name was Chris would I write "Chris' pen" or
"Chris's pen"? The first just doesn't sound right or is it pronounced
differently?

3. If when using the plural of an abbreviation, PC for example. Would I
write "PCs" or "PC's". I'm sure it's the first one but sometimes the
plural of an abbreviation sometimes looks confusing unless the s is
seperated with a '.

TIA

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CyberCypher - 18 Jun 2005 17:17 GMT

> Hi, I have a few questions about English usage:
>
> 1. I've noticed some people use "'phone" as an abbreviation for
> "telephone", is this correct

Yes.

> and if so which is more correct;
> "phone" or "'phone"?

"phone" is correct; *"'phone" is incorrect.

> 2. If I was

"were" is correct here.

> writing about something owned by Bob, a pen for
> example, I would write "Bob's pen". If the name was Jones I would
> write "Jones' pen". But if it the name was Chris would I write
> "Chris' pen" or "Chris's pen"? The first just doesn't sound right
> or is it pronounced differently?

For both Jones and Chris, you'd add /'s/ and pronounce it as if there
were an /-es/ at the end.

> 3. If when using the plural of an abbreviation, PC for example.
> Would I write "PCs" or "PC's". I'm sure it's the first one but
> sometimes the plural of an abbreviation sometimes looks confusing
> unless the s is seperated

"separated" is correct.

> with a '.

Yes, there are times when it's necessary to add that apostrophe to
avoid confusion. The general rule is to omit it, though.

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Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / June 2005

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