Corpora: International English

[Avryl2 at aol.com]

     This comment deviates from the topic of international English. Apologies for that. Just a comment about apostrope use.
     For some reason, I thought apostrophe errors were an American thing. I was quite surprised to hear that they occur in Great Britain as well. I notice apostrophe errors frequently in all kinds of public places in the US, including once, in a courtroom.  The most common error is to use the apostrophe when a simple plural is intended, e.g., 'Customer's are requested to show their ID.' Does anyone have a theory about why so simple a rule is so widely misunderstood considering that a ten year old can easily grasp the difference between possessive and plural? I find it bizarre.

Paula Bramante