We often see apostrophes and quote marks used incorrectly in all manner of advertising copy, and the rules of use seem unknown, even to some journalists.

So here’s some guidelines:

Apostrophes

Apostrophes denote ownership. e.g. Bob’s book means the book belongs to Bob.

When writing a sentence like: 1960s’ icon Twiggy, the apostrophe comes after the s because she was an icon of the 1960s. There is no apostrophe in 1960s because it is a plural.

Likewise 50s and 60s should not have an apostrophe because they are the plural of 50 and 60.

Quote Marks

Double quote marks are normally used for a direct quotation. e.g. “Go jump in the lake,” said John.

Single quote marks are used in two ways: firstly, for a quote-within-a -quote. e.g. “Guess what, he just told me ‘go jump in the lake’ and I told him ‘get lost’.”

Second, single quotes are often used where it’s not a direct quotation but referring to a common expression. For example. The property was described as ‘a handyman’s dream’.

Thanks to Chris Mole of Plainwords for clarifying this.

Posted on April 30th, 2008 by Wendy Riley-Biddle
Filed under: Marketing