apostrophe question

[Bob]

when you're writing the plural form of an abbreviation, do you put an apostrophe before the "s"? in other words, which of the two following sentences is correct?

"there aren't any ATMs on this street"

"there aren't any ATM's on this street"

i feel like i should know this but apparently it hasn't come up for me before until just now!

[Bob]

a related question: do the rules of "a" and "an" change around when an abbreviation begins with a letter that starts with a vowel sound? which of the two is correct:

i just saw an RAF plane

i just saw a RAF plane

[Dorothy Wood]

I think the preferred way to use an apostrophe in that situation is to leave it out, but I think it's acceptable to use it. I don't know the exact rule.

as for the "an", you go by the sound you hear when you say "R". and since it sounds like "are", you use "an".

[Dorothy Wood]

http://www.acronymsearch.com/documents/FAQ_004.htm

[Guy Incognito]

Originally Posted by Bob

a related question: do the rules of "a" and "an" change around when an abbreviation begins with a letter that starts with a vowel sound? which of the two is correct:

i just saw an RAF plane

i just saw a RAF plane

"there aren't any ATMs on this street"

i just saw an RAF plane

or i have no cash and we are being invaded by the British

[Bob]

Originally Posted by Guy Incognito

"there aren't any ATMs on this street"

i just saw an RAF plane

or i have no cash and we are being invaded by the British

lol thanks

[Guy Incognito]

I thought it might depend on what type of acronym it was.

[Dorothy Wood]

hey, I was first!

[QueenAdrock]

Yeah, a lot of people want to put apostrophes after vowels or numbers or abbreviations, but it's usually wrong.

"I grew up in the 1990's" is wrong. "I grew up in the 1990s" is correct.
"Let's go rent some video's" is wrong. "Let's go rent some videos" is correct.


Rule of thumb, unless it's possessive (or a contraction), leave the apostrophe out.