Mustn't, Mayn't, Mightn't, and Oughtn't

Mustn't may be used in light conversation, but not in writing. The others should be avoided in speech and writing.

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I'm, You're, He's, She's, It's, We're, They're

The contractions formed by compounding the pronoun with the verb are very common, and tend to preserve conversation from becoming stiff and formal. Nouns in the singular are sometimes compounded in like manner; as, "John's going by the early train," "Mary's caught a bird." Not many verbs beside is and has are thus compounded, and the practice should be discouraged.

Mayst, Mightst

Although mayst, canst, mightst, couldst, wouldst, and shouldst are contracted forms, the apostrophe is not employed to indicate the contraction.

Daren't, Dursent

Dare not is sometimes contracted to daren't and durst not to dursent, but the practice should not be encouraged.

Let's

While verbs are often contracted when compounded with pronouns, as it's, he's, I'm, you're, etc., the pronoun must not be contracted to form a combination with the verb. It may be a poor rule, but it will not work both ways. Let's should therefore be let us.

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CHAPTER IV

Possessive Case

Some time ago a shoe merchant called upon the writer to know how to arrange the points in the wording of a new sign that he was preparing to place over his door. He made a specialty of shoes for men and boys.

He presented a paper containing the lines:

Men's and Boy's Shoes.

Mens' and Boys' Shoes.

He was politely informed that both were incorrect; that the two words form their plurals differently, and that the possessive case is, therefore, formed in a different manner. The plural of man is men,; the plural of boy is boys. The possessive of man is man's; of men is men's. The possessive of boy is boy's; of boys is boys'. In the latter case we are obliged to place the apostrophe after the s in order to distinguish the possessive plural from the possessive singular. All nouns that form their plurals by adding s to the singular, form their possessive case as the word boy does. The sign should therefore read:

Men's and Boys' Shoes.

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Singular Nouns

All nouns in the singular form their possessive case by adding the apostrophe and the letter s; as, child's, girl's, woman's, bird's, brother's, sister's, judge's, sailor's.

When the noun ends in s, sh, ch, ce, se, or x, the additional s makes another syllable in pronouncing the word; as, James's, Charles's, witness's, duchess's, countess's, Rush's, March's, prince's, horse's, fox's. In poetry the terminal s is sometimes omitted for the sake of the meter.

While writers differ, the tendency in modern usage is toward the additional s in such expressions as Mrs. Hemans's Poems, Junius's Letters, Knowles's "Virginius," Knox's Sermons, Brooks's Arithmetics, Rogers's Essays.

By long-established usage such expressions as for conscience' sake, for righteousness' sake, for qoodness' sake, for Jesus' sake, have become idioms. Some authorities justify the omission of the possessive s when the next word begins with s, as in Archimedes' screw, Achilles'

sword.

Plural Nouns

Most nouns form their plurals by adding s or es to the singular. These plurals form their possessive by adding the apostrophe; as, horses', countesses', foxes', churches', princes'. Nouns whose plurals are formed otherwise than by adding s or es, form their possessive

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case by adding the apostrophe and s, just as nouns in the singular do; as, men's, women's, children's, seraphim's.

Pronouns

Sometimes the mistake is made of using the apostrophe with the possessive personal pronouns; as, her's, our's, it's. The personal and relative pronouns do not require the apostrophe, but the indefinite pronouns one and other form their possessives in the same manner as nouns; as, "each other's eyes," "a hundred others' woes."

Double Possessives

"John and Mary's sled," means one sled belonging jointly to John and Mary. "John's and Mary's sleds" means that one sled belongs to John, the other to Mary.

"Men, women, and children's shoes for sale here." When several possessives connected by and refer to the same noun, the sign of the possessive is applied to the last one only.

When a disjunctive word or words are used, the sign must be annexed to each word; as, "These are Charles's or James's books."

Possessive of Nouns in Apposition

When two nouns are in apposition, or constitute a title, the possessive sign is affixed to the last, as

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"For David my servant's sake," "Give me here John the Baptist's head in a charger," "The Prince of Wales's yacht," "Frederick the Great's kindness."

After "of"

By a peculiarity of idiom the possessive sign is used with a noun in the objective; as, "This is a story of Lincoln's," "That is a letter of the President's," "A patient of Dr. Butler's," "A pupil of Professor Ludlam's."

In ordinary prose the custom of the best writers is to limit the use of the possessive chiefly to persons and personified objects; to time expressions, as, an hour's delay, a moment's thought; and to such idioms as for brevity's sake.

Avoid such expressions as, "America's champion baseball player,"

"Chicago's best five-cent cigar," "Lake Michigan's swiftest steamer."

Somebody else's

The question whether we should say "This is somebody's else pencil,"

or "This is somebody else's pencil," has been warmly argued by the grammarians, the newspapers, and the schools. If some leading journal or magazine were to write somebody else as one word, others would, doubtless, follow, and the question of the possessive would settle itself. The word notwithstanding is composed of three separate words,