Write your advertising signs in correct English

Posted on February 12, 2010 by Gary Chow | 2 Comments » | Trackback URL

What’s the most common punctuation error in marketing communications?

At a guess, I’d say the incorrect use of the apostrophe. Have a look at these signs courtesy of the Wordsplosion website.

There are three main rules to remember about the apostrophe

1. Use an apostrophe to denote ownership of something. The apostrophe goes immediately after the owner.

• The boy’s book (singular)
• The players’ jumpers (plural)
• The children’s toys (plural)
• John and Mary’s house (the apostrophe is required only after the last name if both own the same thing. Putting an apostrophe after both names would mean John and Mary own different houses)

2. Use an apostrophe in contractions

• Don’t (do not)
• Could’ve (could have)
• It’s (it is)

3. Don’t use an apostrophe with possessive pronouns (his, hers, ours, yours, theirs, its)

• His book (not his’ book)
• A friend of yours (not a friend of your’s)

Don’t use apostrophe for the plural of acronyms and numbers

• A conference for MDs (not MD’s)
• The Beatles were big in the 1960s (not 1960’s)

A common mistake is to confuse ‘its’ with ‘it’s’. You often see this on signs. Remember ‘its’ is a possessive pronoun and should not be confused with ‘it’s’.

• The dog lifted its head (possessive)
• It’s raining today (contraction of ‘it is’)
• It’s been lovely meeting you (contraction of ‘it has’)

Here’s more information on the correct use of the apostrophe and here is a humorous summary.