When to Form a Plural with an Apostrophe

When to Form a Plural with an Apostrophe When to Form a Plural with an Apostrophe When to Form a Plural with an Apostrophe By Maeve Maddox This reader wants to know why we write 1980s and not 1980s. I understood that making text entities with non-letter characters into a plural form, you separate the s from the term with an apostrophe 1900s, Jones, Smiths, or Bang!s. Â  So, why no apostrophe with 1980s? A lot of writers share this readers understanding that non-letter characters are pluralized by adding apostrophe s. Alas. Alas, indeed. That pesky apostrophe raises a lot of blood pressure for writers of English. If I had my druthers, wed phase out altogether the use the apostrophe to form the possessive of nouns. What meaning would be lost if we wrote my mothers birthday, the cats tail or the cats tails? Teachers and editors could save their red ink for dealing with the apostrophe and plurals. NOTE: Ive received so many protests regarding these facetious remarks that I hereby withdraw them. We do need the apostrophe to form the possessive. Mea culpa, dear readers. I cant really answer the readers question. What I can do is lay out what the Chicago Manual of Style says about when to use an apostrophe and when not to. And it has a lot to say. Here are only some of the rules this style guide offers. Dont use an apostrophe to pluralize a proper name or other capitalized noun: Many Pakistanis have immigrated to the U.S. (not Pakistanis) Ill be occupied for the next three Thursdays. (not Thursdays) The Jeffersons live here. (not the Jeffersons) NOTE: The CMS suggests that if you want to pluralize an awkward name like Waters or Rogers, you may want to reword the sentence to avoid writing the Waterses or Rogerses. (or Maddoxes?) Dont use an apostrophe to pluralize a title: I have three Madame Bovarys and five Animal Farms. (Type the title in italics and the s in Roman face. When forming the plural of words and hyphenated phrases that arent nouns but are used as nouns sometimes you do and sometimes you dont: I want no ifs or buts. Here are the dos and donts of blogging. Ive written 25 thank-yous. BUT Im tired of all his maybes. DO NOT use an apostrophe to form the plural of capital letters used as words, abbreviations that contain no interior periods, and numerals used as nouns: the three Rs. the 1990s lengthy URLs NOTE: For the abbreviations p. (page), n. (note), and MS (manuscript), the plurals are pp., nn., and MSS And for you scientific types, special rules apply for the plural of SI symbols: No periods are used after any of the SI symbols for units, and the same symbols are used for both the singular and the plural. Most symbols are lowercased; exceptions are those that stand for units derived from proper names (A for ampere, etc.) and those that must be distinguished from similar lowercased forms. All units are lowercased in their spelled-out form except for degree Celsius (Â °C). For those of you who, like me, hadnt heard of SI symbols, youll find a list here. DO use the apostrophe to form the plural of an abbreviation that combines upper and lowercase letters or has interior periods: The department graduated five M.A.s and two Ph.D.s this year. NOTE: If you leave out the periods, you can write MAs but youd still have to write PhDs. DO use the apostrophe to form the plural of lowercase letters: Mind your ps and qs. DO NOT use the apostrophe to form the plural of capital letters: What the CMS actually says is Capital letters do not normally require an apostrophe in the plural. One could write a sentence like this without confusing a reader: You need to improve the formation of your Ts and Zs. But one might be tempted to reach for the apostrophes with a sentence like this: You need to improve the formation of your Ss, Is, and Us. And finallyDRUM ROLLour readers question about using an apostrophe with non-letter characters: DO NOT use an apostrophe to form the plural of a number: The 1920s were noted for excess. I bowled two 300s and two 238s. Source: Chicago Manual of Style, paragraphs 7.9, 7.12, 7,14, 7.15, 7.16, 7.65, 9.59. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Punctuation category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How to Format a UK Business LetterThe Writing ProcessUses of the Past Participle

Linearbandkeramik Culture - The First Farmers of Europe

Linearbandkeramik Culture - The First Farmers of Europe The Linearbandkeramik Culture (also called Bandkeramik or Linear Pottery Ceramic Culture or simply abbreviated LBK) is what German archaeologist F. Klopfleisch called the first true farming communities in central Europe, dated between about 5400 and 4900 BC. Thus, LBK is considered the first Neolithic culture in the European continent. The word Linearbandkeramik refers to the distinctive banded decoration found on pottery vessels on sites spread throughout central Europe, from south-western Ukraine and Moldova in the east to the Paris Basin in the west. In general, LBK pottery consists of fairly simple bowl forms, made of local clay tempered with organic material, and decorated with curved and rectilinear lines incised in bands. The LBK people are considered the importers of agricultural products and methods, moving the first domesticated animals and plants from the Near East and Central Asia into Europe. Lifestyles of the LBK The very earliest LBK sites have loads of pottery sherds with limited evidence of agriculture or stock-breeding. Later LBK sites are characterized by longhouses with rectangular plans, incised pottery, and a blade technology for chipped stone tools. The tools include raw material of high-quality flints including a distinctive chocolate flint from southern Poland, Rijkholt flint from the Netherlands and traded obsidian. Domesticated crops used by the LBK culture include emmer and einkorn wheat, crab apple, peas, lentils, flax, linseed, poppies,  and barley. Domestic animals include cattle, sheep and goats, and occasionally a pig or two. The LBK lived in small villages along streams or waterways characterized by large longhouses, buildings used for keeping livestock, sheltering people and providing workspace. The rectangular longhouses were between 7 and 45 meters long and between 5 and 7 meters wide. They were built of massive timber posts chinked with wattle and daub mortar. LBK cemeteries are found a short distance away from the villages, and, in general, are marked by single flexed burials accompanied by grave goods. However, mass burials are known at some sites, and some cemeteries are located within communities. Chronology of the LBK The earliest LBK sites are found in the Starcevo-Koros culture of the Hungarian plain, around 5700 BC. From there, the early LBK spreads separately east, north and west. The LBK reached the Rhine and Neckar valleys of Germany about 5500 BC. The people spread into Alsace and the Rhineland by 5300 BC. By the mid-5th millennium BC, La Hoguette Mesolithic hunter-gatherers and LBK immigrants shared the region and, eventually, only LBK was left. Linearbandkeramik and Violence There seems to be considerable evidence that relationships between the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers in Europe and the LBK migrants were not entirely peaceful. Evidence for violence exists at many LBK village sites. Massacres of whole villages and portions of villages appear to be in evidence at sites such as Talheim, Schletz-Asparn, Herxheim, and Vaihingen. Mutilated remains suggesting cannibalism have been noted at Eilsleben and Ober-Hogern. The westernmost area appears to have the most evidence for violence, with about one-third of the burials showing evidence of traumatic injuries. Further, there is a fairly high number of LBK villages that evidence some kind of fortification efforts: an enclosing wall, a variety of ditch forms, complex gates. Whether this resulted from direct competition between local hunter-gatherers and competing LBK groups is under investigation; this kind of evidence can only be partly helpful. However, the presence of violence on Neolithic sites in Europe is under some amount of debate. Some scholars have dismissed the notions of violence, arguing that the burials and the traumatic injuries are evidence of ritual behaviors​, not inter-group warfare. Some stable isotope studies have noted that some mass burials are of non-local people; some evidence of slavery has also been noted. Diffusion of Ideas or People? One of the central debates among scholars about the LBK is whether the people were migrant farmers from the Near East or local hunter-gatherers who adopted the new techniques. Agriculture, animal and plant domestication both, originated in the Near East and Anatolia. The earliest farmers were the Natufians and Pre-Pottery Neolithic groups. Were the LBK people direct descendants of the Natufians or were they others who were taught about the agriculture? Genetic studies suggest that the LBK were genetically separate from the Mesolithic people, arguing for a migration of the LBK people into Europe, at least originally. LBK Sites The earliest LBK sites are located in the modern Balkan states about 5700 BC. Over the next few centuries, the sites are found in Austria, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, and eastern France. France: Berry-au-Bac, Merzbachtal, Cuiry-les-ChaudardesBelgium: Blicquy, VerlaineGermany: Meindling, Schwanfeld, Vaihingen, Talheim, Flomborn, Aiterhofen, Dillingen, HerxheimUkraine: Buh-DniestrianRussia: Rakushechnyi YarNetherlands: Swifterbant, Brandwijk-Kerkhof

Financial managment project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Financial managment project - Essay Example TAQA is operating in a multi-billion-dollar global market oil and energy market. As a result of this, the financial performance of TAQA is determined by the trend in the global market. Lately, the price of oil has been erratic, and this has also affected the economic standing of many oil companies worldwide, TAQA inclusive. Some of the major competitors of TAQA are Shell, Chevron, British Petroleum, and Exxon Mobil. These financial analyses will unravel the suitability of TAQA for investment as it reveals the level of profitability, durability and the benefits any future investors could gain by putting their hand-earned money on the company. (I) Level of Profitability: From the fiscal year 2007 to 2009, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company demonstrates a healthy level of profitability. This observation can be supported with the following data: In 2007, TAQA’s average profit margin was 0.12, and its returns on equity was approximately 0.12. These are encouraging figures because 2007 was a terrible year in the energy market. It was the period the oil price shot up to the sky and made energy business almost seemed unprofitable. However, TAQA was able to have an appreciable return on assets that worth 0.015. The following year (in 2008), TAQA’s profit margin increased considerably to 0.19, and its returns on equity did a lot better coming to 0.2, while the returns on asset surprisingly came to 0.02. These results indicate the fact that the profitability of TAQA increases every year. Although, the year 2009 is different because the financial crisis that began in the United States also affected TAQA, bringing its profit margin down to 0.01, its returns on equity plummeted to 0.014 and its returns on assets shrank to 0.001. However, there is every possibility that once the financial crisis is over, TAQA will be abl e to rebound to its profitability level. (ii) Degree of Solvency: The analyses

Lab report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lab report - Essay Example Apart from primary aluminum obtained from bauxite, secondary aluminum and aluminum compounds are obtained through recycling. Recycling aluminum prevents depletion of aluminum ore reserves. Compared with primary production, production of secondary aluminum requires a lower amount of energy. (Davis, 1993) One compound that can be obtained by chemical treatment of used aluminum is potash alum. Potash alum or common alum (potassium aluminum sulfate dodecahydrate, KAl(SO4)2.12H2O) is a double salt. The Al3+ ions in alum act as flocculating agent during water treatment and purification and also as a blood congealer in medicine. (Atkins & de Paula, 2006) To investigate a possible method for recycling used aluminum cans, potash alum was prepared from a piece of aluminum can. Feasibility of the recycling process was studied by calculating the percentage yield. Collecting and weighing aluminum. The aluminum beverage can was washed. A 5Ãâ€"8 cm piece of aluminum was cut from the can. Paint from the outer surface of the can and plastic from the inner surface of the can were scraped off. The aluminum piece was cut into small squares. The aluminum squares were weighed and 0.996 g of aluminum was placed in a 250 mL beaker. Addition of potassium hydroxide. To the aluminum in the beaker, 50 mL of 1.4 M potassium hydroxide was added. The reaction mixture of aluminum and KOH was heated on a hot plate in the hood. Heating was stopped when the mixture turned grey. Vacuum filtering. Vacuum filtration apparatus was set up. The hot solution was vacuum filtered. The beaker used was rinsed with distilled water (5 mL) and this solution was also vacuum filtered. The filtrate obtained was cooled in an ice-water bath for a few minutes. Addition of sulfuric acid and crystallization of alum. To the cooled filtrate, 20 mL of 9.0 M sulfuric

An Analysis of Cry, the Beloved Country :: Cry the Beloved Country Essays

An Analysis of Cry, the Beloved Country    In Alan Paton's novel Cry, the Beloved Country two characters, Absalom's girl and Gertrude, show the how society in Johannesburg is as a whole. Absalom's girl symbolizes how girls her age are mothers and have even become divorced several times before. On the other hand Gertrude, Kumalo's sister, illustrates the qualities of a young woman who becomes corrupt from Johannesburg's filthy system of stealing, lying, and prostitution. Both of them show the ways of Johannesburg as a whole. When Gertrude is first found, by Kumalo, she is seen as a ragged and dirty person making her living as a prostitute. When Kumalo sees this he thinks of how she could have a much better living if she came back with him. This is, in essence, the same thing that Kumalo and the blacks are trying to do to Johannesburg. These people are trying to fix the corruption that has taken place in the city. Gertrude, like many others who have come to Johannseburg, or who were even born there, were brought to a world where corruption is the key to living. This is the only way to make a decent life and so they stoop to the lowest levels possible, cheating and prostitution. And just like the rest Gertrude can't be saved from what has become. Even though Kumalo tries to save her and the city of Johannesburg from what it has become it is known that once they have become what they have it's impossible to change them back. Absalom's girl, on the other hand, symbolizes how the society gets into many difficulties at a very young age. This girl has already had several husbands and has a child. Like the rest of the population of Johannesburg she has been confronted by something she is not ready to face. Because of the way of life in this city her choices, along with many others, is half chance. Even though it seems to be the right thing it isn't the same outside of the city. Symbolism is also shown through Absalom's girl to Absalom. Many people, in Johannesburg, have spouses who make a living by doing many bad things including stealing. Also, a great number have lost someone because of what they do, either by death or by getting arrested and prosecuted. Either way the people are taking a risk and it is shown by what happens to Absalom.

Ethics Training Essay

Ethical training is aimed at helping workers to incorporate a high degree of ethical standards in their daily lives as well as help the workers recognize their decisions’ ethical considerations (Lewis, Goodman, & Fandt, 2006). It enables the workers to understand the code of ethics as well as encouraging the workers to abide by the code of ethics. Nowadays, many organizations are providing ethics training to their workers in addition to providing a code of ethics. The ethics training is meant to reinforce the code of ethics and it greatly enhances the ethical behavior of workers in an organization. To begin with, ethics training programs are useful in helping workers to avoid rationalizations which are oftenly used to justify unethical behaviors (Lewis, Goodman, & Fandt, 2006). Some of the rationalizations used to justify misconducts in organizations include the reasoning that the activity being undertaken is in the interest of the organization, the reasoning that one will never be found out, and the reasoning that the act is not exactly illegal (Lewis, Goodman, & Fandt, 2006). Secondly, ethical training provides workers with a general framework which the employees can use to deal with the ethical issues that they encounter (Lewis, Goodman, & Fandt, 2006). This enables the workers to behave ethically as before workers act they are required to identify consequences and analyze options. In addition, ethics training provides a forum where employees and the management can discuss about the ethical dilemmas that the employees are facing and following this the employees are given guidance on how to approach the dilemmas by applying the ethical policies of the companies thus helping the employees avoid unethical behavior (Lewis, Goodman, & Fandt, 2006). Lastly, ethics training programs are useful in helping managers and supervisors to practice self discipline especially when it comes to decision making when faced with difficult situations (Lewis, Goodman, & Fandt, 2006). For an ethics training program to be effective, there are things that need to be included in the program. One of these is an interactive session where the employees are given an opportunity to ask questions about the ethical dilemmas they may be facing and have the questions answered (Ferrel & Fraedrich, 2006). The cases could also be fictional. The other thing to include in an ethics training program is a code of ethics. An ethics training program should be aimed at communicating the contents of a company’s code of ethics to the employees (Ferrel & Fraedrich, 2006). This is done face to face and should also explain the importance of ethical behavior. An ethics training program should include all the organization’s employees. Both the employees and the managers should undergo ethical training as the training would be of little importance if the leaders do not act as role models of ethical behavior (Ferrel & Fraedrich, 2006). In addition, this can demoralize the employees who behave ethically as they feel that the company’s policies are not being employed equally. The training methods used to train should also be interesting and could include things such as videos, posters, and group discussions (Ferrel & Fraedrich, 2006). The training program should also include education on the importance of values as well as education on the importance of compliance with laws and rules with the aim of inspiring principled behavior among employees (Ferrel & Fraedrich, 2006). For example managers can be informed about questions that according to the law are illegal to ask interviewees. It is also important to incorporate a decision making model which is a set of questions to help the employees make ethical decisions (Ferrel & Fraedrich, 2006). References Ferrel, O. C. & Fraedrich, J. (2006). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases (7th ed. ). Florence, KY: Cengage Learning. Lewis, P. S. , Goodman, S. H. , & Fandt, P. M. (2006). Management: Challenges for tomorrow’s leaders (5th ed. ). Mason, OH: Thomsom Learning.

Evaluation Of A State s Health Care System And The...

Month Year All-Payer Claims Databases and the Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Case AAFP Position on Data Transparency and Sharing The AAFP’s policy on Transparency states the AAFP believes that transparency in health care should include disclosing payers’ fee schedules and payment policies, reporting physicians’ cost and quality information, and providing other relevant health care information. Background on All-Payer Claims Databases A growing number of states have established All-Payer Claims Databases (APCDs) to fill information gaps, support health care finance and delivery reform initiatives, and increase price transparency for patients, providers, and other interested parties. APCDs are large-scale databases that collect, aggregate, and analyze data from multiple public and private payers. The data submitted by payers include medical claims, pharmacy claims, consumer eligibility information, and provider information; dental claims are also typically included, but not always. APCDs provide comprehensive information on health care costs, utilization, and quality that allow states and other stakeholders to better understand the overall performance of a state’s health care system. In 2003, Maine was the first state to implement a statewide APCD system and now 24 states (AR, CA, CO, CT, DE, FL, KS, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, NH, NY, OK, OR, RI, TN, UT, VA, VT, WA, WI, WV) have existing or are currently implementi ng APCDs. States rely on APCDs to show results and trends from their