The Rational Apostrophe — Strict Attribution Edition

Proposed by Chloe Garcia

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Purpose

English apostrophe rules have long blurred ownership and association.
This system restores clarity: apostrophes mark possession, omission, or clarity — nothing else.

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1️⃣ Core Rule

Apostrophes show ownership, omission, or clarity — never mere purpose.
If the noun doesn’t own something, omit the apostrophe.

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2️⃣ Specific Possession (use apostrophe)

Add ’s to any singular noun — even one ending in s.
For plurals ending in s, add only ’.
For irregular plurals (no final s), add ’s.

Ownership Type	Example	Meaning
Singular	the cat’s bowl	that specific cat’s bowl
Singular ending in s	the boss’s truck	truck belonging to one boss
Plural (ends with s)	the cats’ bowl	bowl shared by multiple cats
Plural of singular ending in s	the bosses’ truck	truck belonging to multiple bosses
Irregular plural	the children’s bikes	bikes belonging to those specific children
Shared possession	Jack and Jill’s car	one car belonging to both

✅ Test: Can you point to the owner(s)? If yes, use the apostrophe.

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3️⃣ Attribution / Category (no apostrophe)

When the noun only describes purpose, audience, or category, no apostrophe.
These are attributive uses, not possessive.

Example	Meaning
teachers lounge	a lounge for teachers generally
dogs park	park for dogs
mens restroom / womens shoes / childrens playground	intended for men, women, children
writers festival / parents room	event or room for that group

✅ Describes who it’s for, not who owns it.

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4️⃣ Adjectival Possession (consistency with pronouns)

This system aligns with existing English possessive pronouns and adjectival forms, which already omit the apostrophe.

Example	Explanation
its handle	describes the handle belonging to the box — no apostrophe
his jacket	describes relationship, not marked with ’s
the book is hers	shows possession without apostrophe; her → hers acts adjectivally
the house is theirs	describes ownership through pronoun form, not punctuation

These pronouns function adjectivally, describing association rather than literal ownership.
The Rational Apostrophe extends this same logic to nouns used attributively — such as mens restroom, teachers lounge, and childrens playground — maintaining full internal consistency between pronouns and nouns.

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5️⃣ Contractions

Apostrophes still mark omitted letters:
it’s = it is, don’t = do not, we’re = we are, you’ll = you will, he’s = he is

Example	Expanded form	Note
it’s	it is / it has	not to be confused with its
he’s not allowed	he is not allowed	contrasts clearly with his (possessive pronoun)
don’t	do not	contraction of two words
we’re	we are	omitted letter indicated
you’ll	you will	shows contraction of you will

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6️⃣ Clarity Apostrophes (the practical exception)

Use an apostrophe only to prevent confusion when pluralising letters, symbols, or numbers.

Example	Reason
Mind your p’s and q’s.	avoids “ps and qs” ambiguity
Dot your i’s and cross your t’s.	prevents “is” / “ts” confusion
Find all the &’s in the text.	clarifies symbol plural

✅ Use sparingly — only where omission would cause genuine confusion.

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7️⃣ One-Sentence Rule

Owner → apostrophe.
Audience → none.
Contraction → omission.
Ambiguity → clarity apostrophe.

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8️⃣ Traditional vs Rational

Traditional	Rational	Explanation
children’s hospital	childrens hospital	a hospital for all children, not owned by them
men’s restroom	mens restroom	restroom for men generally
teachers’ lounge	teachers lounge	lounge for teachers as a group
the children’s bikes	✅ the children’s bikes	specific children’s bikes (ownership)
p’s and q’s	✅ p’s and q’s	clarity exception

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9️⃣ Rationale

• English historically conflated ownership with purpose.
• Pronouns like its, hers, his, and theirs already follow a rule identical to the Rational Apostrophe — no punctuation for relational description.
• The Rational Apostrophe simply extends that internal logic to all nouns, creating a single consistent system.
• It aligns with natural signage and modern compounds (menswear, childrens clothing, womens health).
• It’s logical, teachable, and visually consistent.

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🔟 Adoption Principle

Apostrophes mark possession, omission, or genuine ambiguity — not association.
Attribution is unmarked.

English evolves through use. Clarity begins with convention.

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💬 Contributing & Discussions

The Rational Apostrophe system is open for refinement and debate.
If you’d like to suggest examples, raise inconsistencies, or propose extensions:

• 💬 Join the Main Discussion to share ideas or ask questions.
• 🧵 Or start a New Discussion for specific examples or edge cases.
• 🐞 Open an Issue if you find an error or exception case.
• 🔀 Fork this repo to experiment with your own version.

Constructive contributions help keep the system consistent, clear, and practical.