Editing Apostrophe (section)

===Use in forming some plurals===
[[File:Oakland A's logo.svg|thumb|right|upright|An apostrophe can be used in the plural form of a single letter, as seen in the team logo of the [[Oakland Athletics|Oakland A's]].]]
Following an evolution in usage in the 20th century, today "the apostrophe of plurality continues in at least five areas":<ref name=OxComp18/> abbreviations, letters of the alphabet/small words, numbers, family names, and in [[nonstandard dialect|non-standard]] use.

====Abbreviations====
For abbreviations, including acronyms, the use of ''s'' without an apostrophe is now more common than its use with an apostrophe. Most modern style guides disparage the use of apostrophes in all plural abbreviations.

Some references continue to condone their use, or even recommend their use in some abbreviations. For example, ''The Canadian Style'' states "Add an&nbsp;apostrophe&nbsp;and&nbsp;''s''&nbsp;to form the plural of abbreviations containing more than one period", so ''G.M.'s'' is preferred to ''G.M.s''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tcdnstyl-chap?lang=eng&lettr=chapsect1&info0=1.04#zz1 |title=The Canadian Style |publisher=[[Public Works and Government Services Canada]] |date=8 October 2009 |access-date=3 November 2021 |archive-date=1 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201080431/https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tcdnstyl-chap?lang=eng&lettr=chapsect1&info0=1.04#zz1 |url-status=live}}.</ref> The ''[[Oxford Companion]] to the English Language'' condones [[Very important person|''V.I.P.'s'']], ''VIP's'', and ''VIPs'' equally.<ref name=OxComp18/>

====Letters of the alphabet, and small words====
For single lowercase letters, pluralization with ''<nowiki/>'s'' is usual.<ref name="MW apostrophe">{{cite book |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877796336/page/79 79] |title=Merriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage |date=2002 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780877796336 |quote=Letters are usually pluralized with ''<nowiki />'s'': ''mind your p's and q's'' although capital letters are sometimes pluralized with ''s'' alone. The use of ''<nowiki />'s'' to form the plurals of numerals, abbreviations, and symbols is not now as common as pluralization with simple ''s''; 1970s, CPUs, &s are more likely to be found than the apostrophied counterparts. |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877796336/page/79}}</ref><ref name="Garner apostrophe">{{cite book |last1=Garner |first1=Bryan A. |author-link1=Bryan A. Garner |title=Garner's ModernEnglish Usage |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780190491482 |quote=[The apostrophe] is sometimes used to mark the plural of an acronym, initialism, number, or letter—e.g.: ''CPA's'' (now more usually ''CPAs''), 1990's (now more usually ''1990s''), and ''p's and q's'' (still with apostrophes because of the single letters).}}</ref><ref name="Huddleston apostrophe">{{cite book |pages=1586–7|last1=Huddleston |first1=Rodney |author-link1=Rodney Huddleston|last2= Pullum |first2= Geoffrey |author-link2=Geoffrey Pullum|title=The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521431468 |quote=An apostrophe may be used to separate the plural suffix from the base with letters, numbers (notably dates), symbols, abbreviations, and words used metalinguistically ... This practice is less common than it used to be; with dates and abbreviations ending with an upper case letter, the form without the apostrophe is now more usual ...}}</ref> Many guides recommend apostrophes whether the single letters are lowercase (as in "[[Mind your Ps and Qs|minding your p's and q's]]") or uppercase (as in "A's and S's").<ref name="Hart apostrophe">{{cite book |quote=In plural forms of a single letter an apostrophe can sometimes be clearer ... A's and S's ... minding your p's and q's ... |page=182 |title=New Hart's Rules: The Oxford Style Guide |edition=2nd |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199570027}}</ref> ''[[The Chicago Manual of Style]]'' recommends the apostrophe of plurality only for lowercase letters.<ref>{{cite book |quote=To aid comprehension, lowercase letters form the plural with an apostrophe and an ''s''. ... the three Rs ... x's and y's |title=The Chicago Manual of Style |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=2010 |isbn=9780226104201 |edition=16th |page=353}}</ref> Sometimes, adding just ''s'' rather than ''<nowiki />'s'' may leave meaning ambiguous or presentation inelegant. However, an apostrophe is not always the preferred solution.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.apostrophe.org.uk/page4.html |title=Frequently Asked Questions |website=The Apostrophe Protection Society |access-date=2 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191201114812/https://www.apostrophe.org.uk/page4.html |archive-date=1 December 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[APA style]] requires the use of italics instead of an apostrophe: ''p''s, ''n''s, etc.<ref>{{cite book |title=Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association |publisher=American Psychological Association |edition=6th |date=2010 |location=Washington, DC |pages=110 |isbn=9781433805615 |url=https://archive.org/details/publicationmanua00ame_451}}</ref>

In the phrase ''dos and don'ts'', most modern style guides disparage spelling the first word as ''do's''. However, there is a lack of consensus and certainly the use of an apostrophe continues, legitimately, in which "the apostrophe of plurality occurs in the first word but not the second".<ref name=OxComp18/>

====Numbers and symbols====
The ''[[Oxford Companion]] to the English Language'' notes that "a plural ''s'' after a set of numbers is often preceded by an apostrophe, as in ''3's and 4's''..., but many housestyles and individuals now favour ''3s and 4s''".<ref name=OxComp18/> Most style guides prefer the lack of apostrophe for groups of years (e.g. ''1980s'')<ref name="owl">{{cite web |title=Purdue University Online Writing Lab: The Apostrophe |url=https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/apostrophe_introduction.html |access-date=26 November 2018 |archive-date=19 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119195050/https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/apostrophe_introduction.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and will prefer ''90s'' or ''<nowiki />'90s'' over ''90's'' or ''<nowiki />'90's''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/PossessivesandAttributives/faq0002.html |title=The Chicago Manual of Style |edition=17th |website=The Chicago Manual of Style Online |access-date=16 February 2018 |archive-date=16 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216144034/http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/PossessivesandAttributives/faq0002.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="blog.apastyle.org2">{{Cite web |url=http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2013/11/pluralize-numbers-and-abbreviations-without-apostrophes.html |title=APA Style Blog: Pluralize Numbers and Abbreviations Without Apostrophes |website=blog.apastyle.org |access-date=16 February 2018 |archive-date=16 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216204335/http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2013/11/pluralize-numbers-and-abbreviations-without-apostrophes.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

While many guides discourage using an apostrophe in all numbers/dates,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Chicago Manual of Style |publisher=University of Chicago |edition=17th |chapter=9.54}}</ref> many other guides ''encourage'' using an apostrophe for numbers or are divided on the issue; for example, the ''Australian Government Style Manual'' recommends "Binary code uses 0’s and 1’s" but recommends "the 2020s".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/apostrophes |title=The Australian Government Style Manual |access-date=3 November 2021 |archive-date=3 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103032126/https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/apostrophes |url-status=live}}</ref> Still other guides take a laissez-faire approach. For example, the University of Sussex's online guide notes regional variation in the use of apostrophes in dates,<ref name="susx2">[http://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/apostrophe/plurals Guide to Punctuation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220141552/http://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/apostrophe/plurals |date=20 February 2015}}, Larry Trask, University of Sussex: "American usage, however, does put an apostrophe here: (A) This research was carried out in 1970's."</ref> and slightly prefers ''1's and 7's'' over ''1s and 7s'' but condones both.

The apostrophe is very often used in plurals of symbols, for example "that page has too many &'s and #'s on it". Some style guides state that the apostrophe is unnecessary since there is no ambiguity but that some editors and teachers prefer this usage.<ref name="owl"/> The addition of an ''s'' without an apostrophe may make the text difficult to read.<ref name="susx2"/>

For many numbers and symbols, a useful alternative is to write out the numbers as words (e.g. ''thousands'' instead of ''1000's'' or ''1000s'', and ''ampersands'' instead of ''&s'' or ''&'s'').

====Family names====
The vast majority of English references published from the late 20th century onwards disparage the use of apostrophes in family-name plurals, for example identifying ''Joneses'' as correct and ''Jones's'' as incorrect. As an exception, the ''[[Oxford Companion]] to the English Language'' (2018) reports that, in addition to ''Joneses'' etc., standard apostrophe usage does continue "in family names, especially if they end in ''-s'', as in ''[[Keeping up with the Joneses|keeping up with the Jones's]]''".<ref name=OxComp18/>

====Nonstandard use====
See {{slink||Superfluous apostrophes ("greengrocers' apostrophes")}}, below.