Quickie Punctuation Question

Personally, I would.

Call me kooky, but I wouldn't. I'm reading "years" as a plural, not as a possessive. But maybe I have had too much coffee. :-D

Maryn said:

I want to put an apostrophe after the s in years--but it is actually a possessive?

Click to expand...

Yes. It's the experience OF the years. Grammatically, that's possessive.

If you find it too awkward, you could use the word "of" and lose the apostrophe.

I have many more years of experience than...

Yup. Add the apostrophe. As someone else noted, it's the experience of the years, or the years' experience.

Torin

D'yall come make a plug for a new grammar board?
http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10866

Years

Maryn said:

I'm the grammar Nazi in my critique group, but I have weak areas and this is one of them:Okay, I want to put an apostrophe after the s in years--but it is actually a possessive? (Or am I just wacked out and sleep-deprived, as I've suspected since this morning, when coffee wasn't getting the job done?)

The critique group meets tonight, BTW.

Maryn, thanking respondants in advance because she has lovely manners at times

Click to expand...

I think it's the word order causing the confusion. Flip-flop the words "years" and "more" to get agreement, I think it makes the rule clearer. "He had many years more experience than his son. . ." "Many" and "years" are both plural, and putting the adjective "more" between them is, I think, what leads to the confusion.

You wouldn't write "many year's" because "many" is talking about numbers, plurality, while "year's" talks about possessive. "Experience" is a noun, so you write plurality, plurality, noun. It's the same as writing "Many years ago, or Many years from now.

So you write "Many years more (insert noun.)

A possessive usually requires an article or modifier determiner. "A" month's pay. "A" year's experience." "An" honest day's pay.

Jamesaritchie said:

A possessive usually requires an article or modifier determiner. "A" month's pay. "A" year's experience." "An" honest day's pay.

Click to expand...

If "a year's experience" is correct, then "five years' experience" would be also, yes? Then in my mind, "many years' experience" would be right.

azbikergirl said:

If "a year's experience" is correct, then "five years' experience" would be also, yes? Then in my mind, "many years' experience" would be right.

Click to expand...

"A" is a singular article which agrees in number with "year's," and which assigns possessive to the word "year."

But the short answer is yes. If you want to make the noun "year" a plural possessive, the correct way to do so is to use five/many as a determiner and write "many years' experience."

If you're writing a list, as in a resume, you should probably do just this.

Two years' experience as foreman.
Five years' experience in IT.

"Many years' experience" also gives you a plural possessive with number agreement.

But you don't have to use the plural possessive in many sentences, and if you don't have to, I think it's better not to. Your milage will certainly vary.