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Proofreading exercise: possessive plural
Hi, I am doing a 'proofreading' certification, and one of the practise exercises is causing me to pause for thought. I figure that folk here will know the answer to this question.
Consider the following two passages: "Our freelancer is working on the last sixty folios of a complex legal typescript which has demanded absolute concentration of the very difficult readings structure.";
"The author will have been given the detailed style guide before beginning work, and will have had discussions about how his book is going to fit into the series pattern."
Should there be an apostrophe before the 's' in "readings structure", to indicate that the structure belongs to the difficult reading? Is there any logic which could justify the omission of which? Furthermore, would it be seen to be over-intervening, for this to be added.
On a similar note: should "series pattern" have an apostrophe aftrer "series"?
Any tips much-welcomed!
Consider the following two passages: "Our freelancer is working on the last sixty folios of a complex legal typescript which has demanded absolute concentration of the very difficult readings structure.";
"The author will have been given the detailed style guide before beginning work, and will have had discussions about how his book is going to fit into the series pattern."
Should there be an apostrophe before the 's' in "readings structure", to indicate that the structure belongs to the difficult reading? Is there any logic which could justify the omission of which? Furthermore, would it be seen to be over-intervening, for this to be added.
On a similar note: should "series pattern" have an apostrophe aftrer "series"?
Any tips much-welcomed!
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Lupita
Messages count : 207Likes count : 6Registration : 2 November 2006If it's a test to get a certificate, you should probably do it yourself!
That said, I'm happy to lend my 2pence's worth -- and that's really what the following is, because I think there is not really one definitive, correct answer to either thing you're asking; although there are probably some wrong answers.
Firstly, the "readings structure "query. This is a clumsy phrase and I tripped up when reading it for the first time in your post. I think, if it were me, that I'd go with "reading structure." Even if you put the apostrophe where you want to, it doesn't make the phrase/wording any less palatable. There is, to my mind, one structure -- even if the reading is in lots of separate documents. The body of work -- all the reading you have to do wherever it is located -- is the structure. If it's wordy, then it could be said that the 'reading structure' -- i.e. the strucutre of what you're having to read, is difficult. I find this group of words ('reading structure') a lot less clumsy to read & say.
Regarding query 2, no I'd leave that as it is. The series has a pattern -- so series pattern is acceptable. Grammatically-speaking, your suggestion is correct -- but it seems a bit pedantic to insert the apostrophe; it would also make reading the words difficult and be a bit of overkill -- most people, I'd say, would know that that the pattern belongs to the series. That said, you are doing all this for a certificate. If the examiner is old-skool, I'd probably put the apostrophe in -- but have your argument ready as to why you did!
Hope this helps. Tell me what answers you're going for and how they were received!