[Grammar] Apostrophe placement!

[ProdigiesOfPeace]

I consider myself to have good knowledge on punctuation, however I’m doing a lighthearted cartoon and I am stumped by my title.

ADOPT YOUR PETS OUTLOOK ON LIFE

Where do I put the apostrophe in the word “pets” in the above sentence?
For context, it will be a cartoon of 4 different animals and their behaviour, so I’m not addressing one specific pet, I’m addressing all pets as a collective.

I feel it should be after the “s”, is that correct?
Thank you.

 

[Rover_KE]

Welcome to the forum. :-D

You are right.

 

[jutfrank]

I'd put it before the 's'.

After the 's' suggests that each person has multiple pets. I think it's safer to assume each reader has just one.

 

[jutfrank]

If you say your pets', you're assuming that everybody has multiple pets, which is not the case.

If you say your pet's, it works if the person has just one pet and also if the person has more than one pet. So use the singular form, with the apostrophe before the 's'.

Another point is that the singular form pet's agrees with the singular form of outlook. If you use the plural pets', you're implying that all pets share a single outlook, which I don't think you mean to do.

 

[Rover_KE]

To sum up, POP, please yourself where you put it. Just don't leave out the apostrophe altogether.

As Piscean said 'There is no correct or incorrect answer. Both are OK, but, whichever you settle on, don't be surprised if some people tell you you are wrong'.

 

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER



1. In my opinion, it would be more practical to write "Adopt your pet's outlook on life."

a. In a cartoon, you want people to concentrate solely on the illustrations and ideas.

b. Many people are already rather confused about the use of apostrophes.

c. If you were to write "pets'," some people, I feel, would find that strange and stop doing what you want them to do, which is to enjoy the cartoon without pausing to consider the finer points of punctuation.

 

[Tdol]

How about using Adopt a pet's outlook?