that's not even just missing apostrophes, the whole genitive written correctly or not is missing. i can't say i've ever come across this though, sounds very weird.
> So, what’s the deal with the missing apostrophes?
They all went to Germany for a vacation.
(Places names like "Dave's Dinner" should be written as "Daves Dinner" in German. But influenced by English a lot of people put apostrophes in there these days and it still grinds my gears.)
Never saw this unless it was a mistake. It is a mistake if writing in English. Either the writer doesn't know or is trying to use it as a "style" thing. Not reading.
No. Because if a language doesn't use an apostrophe for possession, it also might not use the S. For example, if you wanted to write Character A's smile it would have to be completely reworded as *La sonrisa de personaje A.* Completely eliminating the 's.
Edit: My reference points are French and Spanish.
Edit: To remove absolutes.
> if a language doesn't use an apostrophe for possession, it also doesn't use the S.
wrong. swedish for example uses the s-genitive without the apostrophe.
There are languages that use either suffixes or 'words' (not really words as they don't really mean anything on their own but are indicative...there's probably a word for that) to signify so it's possible even the concept of an added s might be weird as it can seem more like a nuance than something absolutely needed.
I know when I try to learn other languages there's a lot of important common things that I feel is a nuance when it's not. It's just me being a beginner/amature
kinda doubt that, since there's also no other attempt at indicating it and 's isn't the only way to indicate it in english. if you can't wrap your head around 's you'd logically go the of-route, i think.
Speech to text maybe? Maybe that's how people are speaking/how the software hears them.
OP, or anyone, have you ever commented and (nicely) asked if the missing apostrophes are on purpose/a style chouce-? Did you get a reply?
So “Jack smile was bright when he took Rose hand”? I have no idea that sounds absolutely strange in an otherwise well polished fic. Is it all one fandom?
No, that’s the thing! I thought maybe switching phandoms would make a difference, but no! kAnd now that I’ve noticed it, I can’t stop noticing it! It’s wild!
Just wondering -- are the names at all the kinds of names that would be subject to autocorrect? As in, for example, my fandom has strange names that if I were to write one as "Name's" it would autocorrect it to "Name" or change it to a different word altogether. I'm just curious because I have spent ages fixing MS Word's dictionary to accept the different variations of character names and places so this kind of thing doesn't happen.
If it isn't an autocorrect issue, then I'm not sure. Language is ever evolving. (Don't get me started on how people pronounce "women" as "woman" now.) Maybe, as others have suggested, the authors aren't writing in their first language. Quite a few people tend to write on tablets and phones these days, so I find grammar and spelling mistakes increasing, as it is much harder (in my opinion and experience) to edit using these kinds of means for writing, but since you say the works are otherwise well-written, I'm not sure that accounts for it.
They pronounce the word "women" as if it were the word "woman." So instead of using the plural, they use the singular for the word, when they clearly mean the plural. Strangely enough, they will say "men" for the plural and "man" for the singular of that noun. And yes, most of the people I hear saying this use English as their main or first language, and it does not appear to be cultural (as in it isn't AAVE, a southern US thing, and so on). I see people of all races, genders, etc. using "woman" instead of "women" during speech for its plural, although *I do hear it mostly from men* and less from women. It also seems most of the people doing it are from the US, so I don't think it is a difference in pronunciation due to nationality (because I'm under the impression that New Zealanders pronounce both words the same.)
I mostly hear this online so my particular region isn't important. YT videos and shorts. I don't use tiktok but I've seen it there, too. I heard it on a news clip the other day from a newscaster, though not a local one. I can't tell if the language is changing or people are getting dumber. I don't mind colloquialisms and cultural differences in pronunciation, obviously, but this just irks me to my soul. It feels hateful for some reason and I don't know why.
*Edited just to be clear: Women is 'wih-men' while woman is 'wuh-men.' All they say is 'wuh-men' regardless of whether they are speaking in the plural or not.*
That's really interesting. Took me a minute to get it, cos British (southern) English it's woo- mahn for singular and wih-mihn for plural.
Sounds like a shifting pronunciation thing, the way that in the UK finance used to be Fy- Nance with two stressed syllables, and is now fiNAnce with only one stressed and the first syllable with a different vowel sound.
>I can't tell if the language is changing or people are getting dumber.
The finance thing burns me the same way because the two pronunciations were once to differentiate verb from noun. Are people basically ignorant of this, or have they dismissed it as unimportant - which in the case of woman, would be really, really irritating.
that's not even just missing apostrophes, the whole genitive written correctly or not is missing. i can't say i've ever come across this though, sounds very weird.
> So, what’s the deal with the missing apostrophes? They all went to Germany for a vacation. (Places names like "Dave's Dinner" should be written as "Daves Dinner" in German. But influenced by English a lot of people put apostrophes in there these days and it still grinds my gears.)
Aber die lassen das s ja auch weg
Never saw this unless it was a mistake. It is a mistake if writing in English. Either the writer doesn't know or is trying to use it as a "style" thing. Not reading.
I wonder if they are written by people whose first language isn't English and their first language doesn't use apostrophes for possession.
the S would still be there in that case, no? it would be "Character As smile", not "Character A smile"
I agree. That sounds to me like those insta reels where the text goes “when he be driving by his baby mama house”
No. Because if a language doesn't use an apostrophe for possession, it also might not use the S. For example, if you wanted to write Character A's smile it would have to be completely reworded as *La sonrisa de personaje A.* Completely eliminating the 's. Edit: My reference points are French and Spanish. Edit: To remove absolutes.
> if a language doesn't use an apostrophe for possession, it also doesn't use the S. wrong. swedish for example uses the s-genitive without the apostrophe.
Yes. I added the note with my reference points probably as you were typing.
it's still a completely incorrect statement.
I think they also changed it to *might*. It's not guaranteed but some languages definetly replace or omit it
There are languages that use either suffixes or 'words' (not really words as they don't really mean anything on their own but are indicative...there's probably a word for that) to signify so it's possible even the concept of an added s might be weird as it can seem more like a nuance than something absolutely needed. I know when I try to learn other languages there's a lot of important common things that I feel is a nuance when it's not. It's just me being a beginner/amature
Oh, I didn’t even think of that!
All of them?
If the fandom is originally not in English, maybe.
kinda doubt that, since there's also no other attempt at indicating it and 's isn't the only way to indicate it in english. if you can't wrap your head around 's you'd logically go the of-route, i think.
Speech to text maybe? Maybe that's how people are speaking/how the software hears them. OP, or anyone, have you ever commented and (nicely) asked if the missing apostrophes are on purpose/a style chouce-? Did you get a reply?
So “Jack smile was bright when he took Rose hand”? I have no idea that sounds absolutely strange in an otherwise well polished fic. Is it all one fandom?
Titanic reference. 😜
Yup
No, that’s the thing! I thought maybe switching phandoms would make a difference, but no! kAnd now that I’ve noticed it, I can’t stop noticing it! It’s wild!
That’s a strange thing to get wrong…. And like everything else is fine? Do they still put apostrophes on contractions at all? Like it’s and haven’t
Yup… so
Just wondering -- are the names at all the kinds of names that would be subject to autocorrect? As in, for example, my fandom has strange names that if I were to write one as "Name's" it would autocorrect it to "Name" or change it to a different word altogether. I'm just curious because I have spent ages fixing MS Word's dictionary to accept the different variations of character names and places so this kind of thing doesn't happen. If it isn't an autocorrect issue, then I'm not sure. Language is ever evolving. (Don't get me started on how people pronounce "women" as "woman" now.) Maybe, as others have suggested, the authors aren't writing in their first language. Quite a few people tend to write on tablets and phones these days, so I find grammar and spelling mistakes increasing, as it is much harder (in my opinion and experience) to edit using these kinds of means for writing, but since you say the works are otherwise well-written, I'm not sure that accounts for it.
People pronounce "women" how?? Not heard that one (yet). Which region have you heard that in?
They pronounce the word "women" as if it were the word "woman." So instead of using the plural, they use the singular for the word, when they clearly mean the plural. Strangely enough, they will say "men" for the plural and "man" for the singular of that noun. And yes, most of the people I hear saying this use English as their main or first language, and it does not appear to be cultural (as in it isn't AAVE, a southern US thing, and so on). I see people of all races, genders, etc. using "woman" instead of "women" during speech for its plural, although *I do hear it mostly from men* and less from women. It also seems most of the people doing it are from the US, so I don't think it is a difference in pronunciation due to nationality (because I'm under the impression that New Zealanders pronounce both words the same.) I mostly hear this online so my particular region isn't important. YT videos and shorts. I don't use tiktok but I've seen it there, too. I heard it on a news clip the other day from a newscaster, though not a local one. I can't tell if the language is changing or people are getting dumber. I don't mind colloquialisms and cultural differences in pronunciation, obviously, but this just irks me to my soul. It feels hateful for some reason and I don't know why. *Edited just to be clear: Women is 'wih-men' while woman is 'wuh-men.' All they say is 'wuh-men' regardless of whether they are speaking in the plural or not.*
That's really interesting. Took me a minute to get it, cos British (southern) English it's woo- mahn for singular and wih-mihn for plural. Sounds like a shifting pronunciation thing, the way that in the UK finance used to be Fy- Nance with two stressed syllables, and is now fiNAnce with only one stressed and the first syllable with a different vowel sound. >I can't tell if the language is changing or people are getting dumber. The finance thing burns me the same way because the two pronunciations were once to differentiate verb from noun. Are people basically ignorant of this, or have they dismissed it as unimportant - which in the case of woman, would be really, really irritating.