"When using a possessive it's usually by adding "'s" at the end, e.g. "the patient's disease". Apostrophes should not be used for pluralisation, e.g. "apostrophes" and not "apostrophe's"."
"The other main use is to indicate missing letters in so-called 'contractions', e.g. "it's", "don't" and "you're". Some of these forms have notorious counterparts without an apostrophe that have a different meaning, e.g. its (possessive of it), your (possessive of you). Although in written English, and hence Radiopaedia, generally the non-contracted form is preferred e.g. "cannot" instead of "can't", "we would" instead of "we'd" etc."
"The other main use is to indicate missing letters in so-called 'contractions', e.g. "it's", "don't" and "you're". Some of these forms have notorious counterparts without an apostrophe that have a different meaning, e.g. its (possessive of it), your (possessive of you). Although in written English, and hence Radiopaedia, generally the non-contracted form is preferred e.g. "cannot" instead of "can't", "we would" instead of "we'd" etc."
"The other main use is to indicate missing letters in so-called 'contractions', e.g. "it's", "don't" and "you're". Some of these forms have notorious counterparts without an apostrophe that have a different meaning, e.g. its (possessive of it), your (possessive of you). Although in written English, and hence Radiopaedia, generally the non-contracted form is preferred e.g. "cannot" instead of "can't", "we would" instead of "we'd" etc."
"The other main use is to indicate missing letters in so-called 'contractions', e.g. "it's", "don't" and "you're". Some of these forms have notorious counterparts without an apostrophe that have a different meaning, e.g. its (possessive of it), your (possessive of you). Although in written English, and hence Radiopaedia, generally the non-contracted form is preferred e.g. "cannot" instead of "can't", "we would" instead of "we'd" etc."
"The other main use is to indicate missing letters in so-called 'contractions', e.g. "it's", "don't" and "you're". Some of these forms have notorious counterparts without an apostrophe that have a different meaning, e.g. its (possessive of it), your (possessive of you). Although in written English, and hence Radiopaedia, generally the non-contracted form is preferred e.g. "cannot" instead of "can't", "we would" instead of "we'd" etc."
"Generally speaking, and mostly because of the plea above, Radiopaedia.org is in favour of omitting apostrophes wherever possible. However, there are still some cases where it's necessary. These include:"
"Although apostrophes were previously also used in the pluralisation of letters (B's), numbers and acronyms (ICD's) this use is becoming obsolete and we, therefore, advise against it and would write: Bs, ICDs, 5s, and Ss (for plural of 'S'). Read more about acronyms."
"The other main use is to indicate missing letters in so-called 'contractions', e.g. "it's", "don't" and "you're". Some of these forms have notorious counterparts without an apostrophe that have a different meaning, e.g. its (possessive of it), your (possessive of you). Although in written English, and hence Radiopaedia, generally the non-contracted form is preferred e.g. "cannot" instead of "can't", "we would" instead of "we'd" etc."
"Although apostrophes were previously also used in the pluralisation of letters (B's), numbers and acronyms (ICD's) this use is becoming obsolete and we, therefore, advise against it and would write: Bs, ICDs, 5s, and Ss (for plural of 'S'). Read more about acronyms."
"anatomical structures that cannot be pluralised without becoming nonsense: Arnold's nerve, Waldeyer's ring, Bochdalek's flower basket, Lister's tubercle, Hoffa's fat pad"
"by using the rule of thumb with plurals other terms can do without an apostrophe: Morgagni hernia, Bochdalek hernia, Hoffa fracture, Meckel diverticulum"
"lines: Shenton line, Perkin line, McGregor line"
"A particular note should be made on eponyms as the use of apostrophes in eponyms is debated. Many diseases, anatomical structures and landmarks are named after a person, either a patient, a doctor or someone entirely different (also see Stigler's law of eponymy). There is variation in the spelling of such eponyms when it comes to the inclusion of an apostrophe, effectively alternating between using a possessive form (Down's syndrome) or a non-possessive form (Down syndrome)."
"The non-possessive form (without an apostrophe) is becoming more common and widely advocated; National Institutes of Health (NIH) and World Health Organisation (WHO) 1, AMA manual of style 2, Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, and Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary 3 - yes the irony that both dictionaries use the possessive form is noted."
Expected headings
"Apostrophes in eponyms"
"When to use apostrophes"
"When not to use apostrophes"
"Although apostrophes were previously also used in the pluralisation of letters (B's), numbers and acronyms (ICD's) this use is becoming obsolete and we, therefore, advise against it and would write: Bs, ICDs, 5s, and Ss (for plural of 'S'). Read more about acronyms."
"A particular note should be made on eponyms as the use of apostrophes in eponyms is debated. Many diseases, anatomical structures and landmarks are named after a person, either a patient, a doctor or someone entirely different (also see Stigler's law of eponymy). There is variation in the spelling of such eponyms when it comes to the inclusion of an apostrophe, effectively alternating between using a possessive form (Down's syndrome) or a non-possessive form (Down syndrome)."
"The non-possessive form (without an apostrophe) is becoming more common and widely advocated; National Institutes of Health (NIH) and World Health Organisation (WHO) 1, AMA manual of style 2, Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, and Dorland’s Illustrated Medical Dictionary 3 - yes the irony that both dictionaries use the possessive form is noted."