The ravings of a grammar pedant.
We’ve all seen it. Signs saying: “Open on Sunday’s”, Facebook statuses saying: “I hate Wednesday’s” or texts from friends saying “Tuesday’s don’t really work for me, can we try a Thursday?”
Well, this needs to stop. It doesn’t help that the iPhone sometimes autocorrects to add an unnecessary and grammatically incorrect apostrophe to make you look bad, often unbeknownst to you. Go on, try it yourself.
Don’t believe me? This is a screengrab from my own phone.
iPhone overzealously correcting grammar
See? Technology doesn’t always get it right.
Correct version: Not in a month of Sundays
Incorrect version: Not in a month of Sunday’s
Why do you even care?
Well, I’m a translator and proofreader and it’s my job to care. Sadly, I can’t escape my grammar patrol duties, even during non-working hours. The world is littered with poor grammar and we can only remedy this by learning how to be better at it and calling out mistakes, and adding an apostrophe to help pluralise a day of the week is an extremely common one. Yet I’m not sure why, because we’ve all seen bands named after days of the week in their pluralised form, i.e. The Saturdays, The Tuesdays, Happy Mondays…
Do you see an apostrophe? No, neither do I. OK, so, we’re on the same page.
Think of it like this: would you write ‘there are seven day’s of the week’? If you would, then please reconsider.
Situations where an apostrophe is appropriate and necessary:
Sunday’s chores are always boring. (Meaning: the chores of/on Sunday are always boring)
Wednesday’s the worst working day of the lot. (Meaning: Wednesday is the worst working day of the lot)
I followed Tuesday’s diet plan very strictly, but completely abandoned Thursday’s
My boss has most of her meetings on Fridays, so maybe Monday’s a better day to speak to her by phone (notice how there is no apostrophe on the first pluralised day of the week mentioned)
Before you judge…
While you may think I’m absolutely insane for writing this, I am by no means alone in my passion for good grammar. In 2001, a man named John Richards started the Apostrophe Protection Society, which gathered a sizeable following within a short space of time, receiving over 500 letters of support after featuring a grammar complaint in a national newspaper. If this post has helped even one person navigate the use of apostrophes and days of the week, then it will have been worth it.
Thanks for reading, Lucy at LH Translations French-English Translator and Subtitler www.lhtranslations.co.uk
