Apostrophe or not an apostrophe - that is the question.

Question

Should there be an apostrophe in the word, thank you's ? It would be nice if you could also provide me with a short reason.

We recognise your achievements with our special brand of thank you's.

Thanks !

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

No apostrophe should be used. A 'thank you' is a colloquial compound noun. To put an 's' on it is to signify the plural. The apostrophe is only used to express possession e.g. Bob's radio; or missing letter/s such as the 'no' omitted in 'can't' which in its full form is 'cannot'. Note 'its' does not take a possessive apostrophe. When it has an apostrophe it is a contraction of 'it is'.

Igbruce · Answer

No. A 'thank you' is a colloquial compound noun, like lounge room or room heater, and the 's' in 'thank yous' signifies the plural, so no apostrophe is used.
Apostrophes are used to express possession e.g. Bob's car; or to indicate some letters have been omitted in a contracted word
e.g. 'can't' is a contracted form of 'cannot'. The only exception to the possessive use is with the pronoun 'it'. When 'it' owns something it is spelled 'its', written as 'it's' it is a contracted form of 'it is' e.g. It's raining in Sydney tonight. I think you are confusing what you have written as 'you's' with the slang term for plural 'you'. 'You' has the same form in singular and plural e.g. You have a nice smile; You all heard that; but some slang usages employ a separate word for the plural, usually written as 'youse'.You never say 'youse' unless you are in a gang or something where a slang dialect is used. It is not an accepted English word and signifies that the user comes from a social strata that is very low class or gang oriented.

Ian

Mrs. Smith · Answer

Many thanks, Ian, for the clear explanation.

Mrs. Smith · Answer

Sorry, Anonymous. I didn't see your reply earlier.

Thanks very much for your help.

Apostrophe or not an apostrophe - that is the question.

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