I was reading a research manuscript and came across this sentence:

"The nursing program has integrated simulation throughout it's' curriculum as a vital part to increase the student's ability to provide safe, adequate, appropriate care."

Two apostrophes in "it's'", just to cover all bases.

...and if you read it as meaning that all students be able to provide quality care, not just one, then it should be "students'." Though I suppose a case can be made for the singular.

I infer a plural in the case of "student's."

Not long ago I worked with someone who wrote my family name, "Sander's."

Oh? Does that make you related to Winnie-the-Pooh? (As in

-- Winnie-the-Pooh lived in a forest all by himself under the name of Sanders.
-- ("What does 'under the name' mean?" asked Christopher Robin.
-- "It means he had the name over the door in gold letters, and lived under it."

No, it implies that I was conceived in a hardware store. That explains my abrasiveness.

BTW, no relation to Bernie. His forebears took the name upon arriving in the USA. Here's a fun Quora article on it: https://www.quora.com/Did-Bern...to-the-United-States

I have no idea how Winnie the Pooh came to live under his assumed name. I guess it sounds better than living under Pooh.

If it were "students'," would it be "abilities" then?

Seems right to me.

Yesterday I had a cataract operation. The instructions for the post-operation eyedrops state that I'm to use them "4x's a day." "Four timeses a day???" I hope his surgical acumen is superior to his grammatical skill.

So, did you think it should be 4Xs a day? I am surprised they didn't spell out the times, to be honest. I could see patients with a less knowledge of health care than you having no idea what that means.

However, sometimes I make mistakes and use medical abbreviations and jargon in papers.

quote:

with a less knowledge

Isn't the "a" unnecessary?

"Lesser knowledge," I assume.

I think it should be "4X." "X" has a long history of meaning, "times." It's nothing like as ambiguous as "#," which has traditionally meant "number" or "pound," but which has recently (2014, according to one source)taken on another meaning. Because of this ambiguity, it seems inappropriate as a symbol in the slogan, "# me too." The intent is surely NOT "pound me too!" "Number me too" does, however, make sense, as in "Count me in."

quote:

"X" has a long history of meaning, "times."

That's my favorite newspaper -- the New York X.

The "a" before "less" was a typo. Sorry about that. I still think X could lead to errors.

Not an apostrophe but a comma story - IF someone can get past the paywall: https://www.reuters.com/articl...claims-idUSL2N1PZ20S

Now, that gets complicated. Language Log is always so good at breaking it all down.