"Coach" plural AND possessive

Question

Hi,I'm just wondering if this is the proper way to write "coach" (as in soccer coach) plural and possessive.coaches'If it's not, what is?Also, does "Coaches Zone" make any sense grammatically? I don't think it does as if you heard that, you would assume that "Coaches" was possessive. I'd just like some opinions of those in the know .Thanks

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Hi, I'm just wondering if this is the proper way to write "coach" (as in soccer coach) plural and possessive. coaches' If it's not, what is?[/nq]
The very first thing you need to do right now is relax. This is the sort of thing that almost no one dies from.
[nq:1]Also, does "Coaches Zone" make any sense grammatically? I don't think it does as if you heard that, you would assume that "Coaches" was possessive. I'd just like some opinions of those in the know

.[/nq]
People don't like the ' hanging out there so it is often just dropped. Really, don't worry about it.

Even though the world knows that these areas are susceptible to this sort of thing, there apparently are no warning systems in place to attempt to mitigate a disaster like this even for those areas literally a 1000 km away, a distance that puts the inundation, I think, a couple of hours from the original seismic event. It is simply unconscionable that I could find out here in America about this threat before people who are actually at grave risk could.

Usenet · Answer

Um... ok?
I posted on an English usage forum thinking I'd find people who were similarly interested in proper English. Guess not.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi, I'm just wondering if this is the proper way to write "coach" (as in soccer coach) plural and possessive.[/nq]
Coaches and Coach's.
[nq:1]coaches' If it's not, what is? Also, does "Coaches Zone" make any sense grammatically? I don't think it does as if you heard that, you would assume that "Coaches" was possessive. I'd just like some opinions of those in the know

.[/nq]
Depends. If it's the title of a radio or television program, "Coach's Zone" would be the zone of one coach, and the "Coaches Zone" would be the zone of several coaches since the "zone" is not a designated area where the coaches are restricted to be. If it's a designated area, then "Coach's Zone" would be correct since there is no requirement for there to be more than one coach. We give titles to programs more latitude grammatically.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Um... ok? I posted on an English usage forum thinking I'd find people who were similarly interested in proper English. Guess not.[/nq]
Thjere are people here who are interested in "proper English", of which there are many varieties depending on geography, social context, degree of formality, etc.

That seems OK.
You asked: "does "Coaches Zone" make any sense grammatically?"

"Coaches Zone" could be seen as a 'proper name'. Such names are invented and are not necessarily subject to 'rules of grammar'.

However, in this case "Coaches" is a noun being used attributively - i.e. with adjectival effect.
For a treatment of Possessive vs. Attributive Nouns see the article at http://www.getitwriteonline.com/archive/082504.htm

Peter Duncanson
UK (posting from a.e.u)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Um... ok? I posted on an English usage forum thinking I'd find people who were similarly interested in proper English. Guess not.[/nq]
We're interested in usage, which includes standard usage. "Proper usage" is arguably something different. (And in this group we can argue about terminology quite extensively sometimes.)
You're jumping to a conclusion based upon insufficient evidence. Stick around. Read more posts. Read and compare the newsgroup alt.usage.english , also, and see which forum you prefer.
Note that top-posting writing your reply at the beginning of the message as you did is discouraged in this newsgroup.
[nq:2]The very first thing you need to do right now ... it is often just dropped. Really, don't worry about it.[/nq]
Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi, I'm just wondering if this is the proper way to write "coach" (as in soccer coach) plural and possessive. coaches'[/nq]
Yes, that's right.
[nq:1]If it's not, what is? Also, does "Coaches Zone" make any sense grammatically? I don't think it does as if you heard that, you would assume that "Coaches" was possessive. I'd just like some opinions of those in the know

.[/nq]
Since English allows nouns to modify nouns ("Did you receive the school board planning committee meeting postponement notice?"), "Coaches Zone" is acceptable. "Coaches' Zone" is valid, too.

Bill (another one)
Swap first and last parts of username and ISP for address.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Since English allows nouns to modify nouns ("Did you receive the school board planning committee meeting postponement notice?"), "Coaches Zone" is acceptable. "Coaches' Zone" is valid, too. Bill (another one) Swap first and last parts of username and ISP for address.[/nq]
What Bill writes above is more valid than Coach's which I find an otherwise nasty appellation. Another way around the possessive dilemma, though not entirely satisfactory, at least in AmE, is to insert a proper name. Coach Larry's Zone, though this shifts you back to singular.

I believe apostrophe reform is much warranted in this language, and that a native speaker could get by understanding possession quite nicely without the aforementioned punctuation, better reserved for contractions, but I am not on the Bartleby statistics committee for what passes as acceptable usage.
Joanne

"Coach" plural AND possessive

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