Date: 17 Dec 2002 11:05:29 -0800 From: swear@attbi.com (Gary W. Swearingen) To: Tom Rhodes <trhodes@FreeBSD.org> Cc: freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Apostrophe Usage Message-ID: <swfzswh3eu.zsw@localhost.localdomain> In-Reply-To: <20021216145713.5821cc6d.trhodes@FreeBSD.org> References: <20021215213600.GA6049@submonkey.net> <20021215214245.GC6049@submonkey.net> <i9k7i9hhjr.7i9@localhost.localdomain> <20021216145713.5821cc6d.trhodes@FreeBSD.org>
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Tom Rhodes <trhodes@FreeBSD.org> writes: > On 16 Dec 2002 11:47:52 -0800 > swear@attbi.com (Gary W. Swearingen) wrote: > > > I worry that you asked the question wrongly. Does the "'s" belong? > > > > I think so, but these should be OK too: > > > > Include an abstract of the book contents here. > > Include an abstract of the book content here. > > Include an abstract of the book's content here. ... > If I'm not mistaken, doesn't an apostrophe (Tom's system) apply to > ownership. Therefor, the (book's content) would be correct. Yes, that's why I said "I think so, but these should be OK *too*". It should also be correct to refer to "book contents", where "book" is used as a simple adjective. The possessive form may sound more natural to us in this case, but it's just custom. In a similar case, we might rather use the opposite form, for example, preferring "peach pit" to "peach's pit". But both forms are allowed by our grammar. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message
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