This is a construction that often perplexes writers. The first instance in each example is an appositive: a noun phrase consisting of a plural noun that modifies another noun that follows it. The form with the apostrophe is a possessive, a noun that “owns” the noun that follows it.

So if the conference is one that is organized for writers, it’s an appositive. But if it’s a conference organized by writers—one that belongs to them—it’s a possessive. Likewise, if it’s a market for farmers, the proper construction would be the appositive farmers; a market owned by the farmers would be the possessive farmers’.

The trouble with such noun phrases is that they frequently are ambiguous. Lacking insider knowledge, you’re often left to guess whether it’s an appositive or a possessive. Furthermore, there are plenty of commonly accepted constructions that defy appropriate construction.

Children’s Hospital is a case in point. Clearly, the children don’t own the hospital; it’s a hospital for children. But you’ll see the possessive apostrophe on just about every such hospital in the country. One in San Diego seems to be aware of the problem and has hedged its bet. Instead of an apostrophe in its logo, a blue kite with a tail occupies the apostrophe slot. You can choose to read it as an apostrophe or simply view it as a decoration.

An example of an entity that got it right is Publishers Weekly. This is a publication for the publishing industry, not owned by it.

The key is to do your best to determine possession (or not) and punctuate accordingly. So if it’s the boys football team, it’s an appositive. But if it’s the boys’ football uniforms, it’s a possessive.

Learning a new language is never easy. Below you will find ten common mistakes among students of English as a second language. Even if you are a native English speaker I guess you could use a reminder on some of them.

Incorrect: My sister is photographer.
Correct: My sister is a photographer.

Incorrect: It is more cold today.
Correct: It is colder today.

Incorrect: I have told you all what I know.
Correct: I have told you all (that) I know.

Incorrect: Which is the biggest city of the world?
Correct: Which is the biggest city in the world?

Incorrect: I have done a mistake.
Correct: I have made a mistake.

Incorrect: I have been here since three days.
Correct: I have been here for three days.

Incorrect: We waited one and a half hour.
Correct: We waited one and a half hours.

Incorrect: According to me, it’s a bad film.
Correct: In my opinion, it’s a bad film.

Incorrect: It’s getting winter.
Correct: It’s getting to be winter.

Incorrect: Except Angie, everybody was there.
Correct: Except for Angie, everybody was there.

Consider the following sentences:

It might rain tomorrow.

There wasn’t enough money to pay the rent.

In these sentences, it and there are not pronouns that refer to or replace any existing noun. Yet they’re necessary to fill in because each sentence syntactically requires a subject.

Sometimes we can’t avoid using an expletive, but if you can recast a sentence to get around it, it’s good to do so. You can expand the sentence to give it a clear subject, or if the surrounding context identifies a previous noun, you can repeat it.

The forecast calls for rain tomorrow.

Doctor bills had bled the family’s reserves. They didn’t have enough money to pay the rent.

If you have to struggle to eliminate an expletive, it’s fine to let it stand. It’s an innocuous part of speech that doesn’t jump out at readers or disrupt flow, and usually its meaning is clearly understood.

please tell me how to [understand] phrases and…clauses

A clause is a group of words that contains a finite verb (that is, a verb that indicates time such as present, past or future).

If a clause can stand alone as a sentence with a capitalized first word and a period or other end punctuation, it’s called a main clause or an independent clause.

Examples of main clauses that are also sentences:

The dish ran away with the spoon.
Baseball is a popular sport.
Many businesses have dismissed some employees.

A clause that depends upon another clause to complete its meaning is called a subordinate clause or a dependent clause.

Examples of dependent clauses:

Although the man had been warned
when you get here
because they went away

Lengthy sentences may contain an assortment of main and subordinate clauses:

Although the man had been warned, he went into the burning building in an attempt to save the children who he knew were inside.

This sentence contains four clauses:

1. Although the man had been warned
2. he went into the burning building in an attempt to save the children
3. who were inside
4. he knew

The second clause contains three verb forms, but only one is a finite verb: “went” (past tense). “Burning” is a participle form used as an adjective to describe “building.” “To save” is an infinitive used as an adjective to qualify the noun “attempt.”

The grammatical term clause is easier to define than phrase. A working definition of phrase is this one from the OED:

A small, unified group of words (in a sentence) that does not include both a subject and a predicate or finite verb

A more detailed discussion of the many meanings attached to phrase as a grammatical term will have to wait for another post.

Adjectives fall into categories, and those categories comprise the royal order:

Determiner (articles and other limiters: the book, your car)

Observation or opinion (a genuine fraud, an interesting book, an expensive watch)

Size and Shape (tiny, fat, square)

Age (young, old, new)

Color (blue, sea-green)

Origin (American, Chinese)

Material (describing what something is made of: silk, copper, wooden)

Qualifier (final adjective, often an integral part of the noun: vacation resort, wedding dress, race car)

Typically, writers know better than to string together more than two or three adjectives at a time, and we don’t seem to struggle too much in getter their order straight. Where it gets confusing is in deciding when to use commas to separate a string of adjectives.

You probably already know that equal adjectives should be separated by commas, as in this example:

The singer wore a beaded, feathered costume.

“Beaded” and “feathered” are equal adjectives, ones that belong to the same category (material) in the royal order. You could switch their position, and the rhythm of the sentence would still be correct.

However, when you create a string of adjectives, be mindful of both their proper order and of the fact that you needn’t use commas to separate adjectives of a different category.

The singer wore an antique purple beaded, feathered costume.

Only one comma is necessary in the above sentence because “beaded” and “feathered” are the only adjectives belonging to the same category.

If you’re ever in doubt about where to place commas in a string of adjectives, refer to the royal order. It’ll be your faithful guide.