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The debate that won't die around here (where I work) is the plural of an
abbreviation. I believe that if you want to talk about more than one CD,
for example, you CAN use an apostrophe (five CD's), but I don't. I
capitalize the abbreviation, and use a lower case 's' to make it plural
(five CDs).
English hurts my brain.
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+mschmidt=weathercentral -dot- tv -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+mschmidt=weathercentral -dot- tv -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
On Behalf Of Geoff Hart
Sent: Monday, August 07, 2006 8:53 AM
To: TECHWR-L; Yoann Le Bleis
Subject: Grammar : "of", " 's" or nothing ?
Yoann Le Bleis wondered: <<Does anyone have a good link to a page
that exhaustively defines the use of *of*, *'s* and *nothing* in a
nominal group?>>
Best bet is to pick up a good, comprehensive style guide such as the
Chicago Manual of Style; it contains a wealth of grammatical
information. I relearned most of my English grammar from the 14th
edition, which has been replaced and should thus be available
inexpensively as a used copy. In addition, most good dictionaries
have a section that discusses English grammar in varying degrees of
detail, and the better ones also provide usage examples for most
words in the dictionary.
<<Can I use the *'s* for an object possessing another object? eg
"widget's event" What about concepts? How can I choose between
"confidentiality rules" and "rules of confidentiality"?>>
Yes, you can use the possessive in the first case, but English
accepts the use of unmodified nouns as adjectives (I believe they're
called "attributive nouns"), as in your second example. Both are
acceptable, but phrases that use "of" are wordier and thus less
useful in most technical communication. Unfortunately, knowing when
they're required depends on a strong knowledge of English idiom,
which you'll only develop by reading a lot of good English writing;
for example, you'd never say "the Wales Prince" ("Prince of Wales" is
preferred). Some of these choices will be found in books on usage
(Fowler's book is the best known, but Garner is more recent and is
well respected).
And when in doubt, ask! We techwhirlers have endless patience for
polite inquiries from people who have done a bit of research on their
own to try to solve a problem before coming to us for help.
----------------------------------------------------
-- Geoff Hart
ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
www.geoff-hart.com
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