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Believer Posted 18 years ago
Grammar

"as ... as" expression

0Hi,02br
02br
00I have difficulty figuring out how to write the word that follows something like an 'as much/twice as something' or 'twice as something' expression -- should it be in a 'plain' form or in the possessive? I feel some people are unable to correctly the right situations for either usage.02br
02br
00This year's figure for sales is twice the number as last year (or last year's)02br
02br
00Instinctively, I feel it should be 'last year's' because I think we are talking about numbers -- last year's number and this year's number that is; but I feel in a lot of cases, a sentence without the apostrophe is accepted. Why? How about this?02br
02br
00The year's membership figure is as many as last year (or last year's), maybe more. 0-
  

Top answer

0 01blockquote 01cite 10Believer12cite 10Hi,12br 12br 10I have difficulty figuring out how to write the word that follows something like an 'as much/twice as something' or 'twice as something' expression -- should it be in a 'plain' form or in the possessive? 12br 12br 10This year's figure for sales is twice the number as last year (or last year's)12br 12br 10Instinctively, I feel it should be 'last year's' because I think we are talking about numbers -- last year's number and this year's number that is; but I feel in a lot of cases, a sentence without the apostrophe is accepted. Why?

— Feebs11

  • 0 01blockquote 01cite 10Believer12cite 10Hi,12br 12br 10I have difficulty figuring out how to write the word that follows something like an 'as much/twice as something' or 'twice as something' expression -- should it be in a 'plain' form or in the possessive?
  • 12br 12br 10This year's figure for sales is twice the number as last year (or last year's)12br 12br 10Instinctively, I feel it should be 'last year's' because I think we are talking about numbers -- last year's number and this year's number that is; but I feel in a lot of cases, a sentence without the apostrophe is accepted.
  • Why?
  • 12br 12br 10The year's membership figure is as many as last year (or last year's), maybe more.
  • " 0-
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3 Answers
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Believer12cite10Hi,12br
12br
10I have difficulty figuring out how to write the word that follows something like an 'as much/twice as something' or 'twice as something' expression -- should it be in a 'plain' form or in the possessive? I feel some people are unable to correctly the right situations for either
0
0
0Your instinct is right--the phrase refers to "last year's 01i00figure02i00" but the word "figure" is understood and so dropped. So grammatically the spelling should be year's. However, it has become common-01del00especially in conversation02del00-to drop the 's, and that has slipped into common usage in many cases. It's common for this to happ
0
0
0 01blockquote
01cite10Believer12cite10This year's figure for sales is twice the number as last year (or last year's)12blockquote
10 this year's - last year's. the figures for this year - those for last year. the week's - the month's. They should be parallel.02br
00CJ 0-
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