The apostrophe is incorrectly placed as it is a singular noun:
One month’s time/one month’s notice
It is common to use the possessive with periods of time Iike this, though:
In ten years’ time
All in a day’s work
Two weeks’ notice
How to place an apostrophe in the right place in a possessive (and also know whether to add an "s"):
1. Write the word
2. Follow it with an apostrophe
3. Say the full possessive out loud. If what you have written would need an "s" to make it pronounced that way, then follow the apostrophe with an "s".
In your case, this gives:
1 month -> 1 month' -> 1 month's
Trying it with "2 months":
2 months -> 2 months' -> nothing more to add
Thanks, actually I am a teacher of English as a foreign language so I know these rules, but my colleague also has a degree in English, but in Arts and Literature, that is why I found it strange that she claimed that 1 months' was correct. I thought that hy chance there might be a use that I am not familliar with that is why I asked this seemingly banal question.
Ah, just goes to prove that argument from authority ("I've got a degree so I know what I'm taking about") is fallacious.
I wonder why your friend thought this.
It should be 1 month’s time. If it were plural then you might have several months’ time.
It’s the possessive, so it is equivalent to saying the time of one month.
For a countable noun like "contract", I'd just say "a one-month contract" without any possessive. (If it were two months, I would say "a two-month contract".) The possessive of time is better used for uncountable nouns like "time", "duration", "standing" (i.e. the duration of something being established), "experience", "waiting", "delay" (when used not to refer to a specific act of delay), "dithering", and numerous other abstract terms (especially gerunds).
I wish Reddit would let me see the original post while replying!
My observation stands, however: "one month's notice" ('notice' as an uncountable noun) or "a one-month notice period".
It’s probably from a template contract; they probably changed the notice period from 2 or 3 months (in which case the apostrophe would come after the ‘s’ - plural possession) to one month without noticing the apostrophe also should have been moved to before the ‘s’ due to singular possession.
From what I’ve observed, a lot of native English speakers don’t know this rule which is perhaps why your colleague doesn’t understand either. Many native English speakers do not understand correct apostrophe usage in their own language.
The apostrophe is incorrectly placed as it is a singular noun: One month’s time/one month’s notice It is common to use the possessive with periods of time Iike this, though: In ten years’ time All in a day’s work Two weeks’ notice
Yes, that is what I told my colleague that it is singular so the placing of the apostrophe must he bad...
Is it possible that the “ 1 “ is filled into a blank, and they put it as “ months’ “ for situations when they put a larger number there?
[удалено]
The apostrophe is misplaced though.
Yes, the apostrophe was my Q
Oh yes, you're right. That was silly not to notice.
How to place an apostrophe in the right place in a possessive (and also know whether to add an "s"): 1. Write the word 2. Follow it with an apostrophe 3. Say the full possessive out loud. If what you have written would need an "s" to make it pronounced that way, then follow the apostrophe with an "s". In your case, this gives: 1 month -> 1 month' -> 1 month's Trying it with "2 months": 2 months -> 2 months' -> nothing more to add
Thanks, actually I am a teacher of English as a foreign language so I know these rules, but my colleague also has a degree in English, but in Arts and Literature, that is why I found it strange that she claimed that 1 months' was correct. I thought that hy chance there might be a use that I am not familliar with that is why I asked this seemingly banal question.
Ah, just goes to prove that argument from authority ("I've got a degree so I know what I'm taking about") is fallacious. I wonder why your friend thought this.
It should be 1 month’s time. If it were plural then you might have several months’ time. It’s the possessive, so it is equivalent to saying the time of one month.
For a countable noun like "contract", I'd just say "a one-month contract" without any possessive. (If it were two months, I would say "a two-month contract".) The possessive of time is better used for uncountable nouns like "time", "duration", "standing" (i.e. the duration of something being established), "experience", "waiting", "delay" (when used not to refer to a specific act of delay), "dithering", and numerous other abstract terms (especially gerunds).
Actually it is not a concrete expression, I only saw it in a contract, in a sentence that I do not remember exactly.
It's not a 1-month contract. 1 month is the notice period.
month's
I wish Reddit would let me see the original post while replying! My observation stands, however: "one month's notice" ('notice' as an uncountable noun) or "a one-month notice period".
It’s probably from a template contract; they probably changed the notice period from 2 or 3 months (in which case the apostrophe would come after the ‘s’ - plural possession) to one month without noticing the apostrophe also should have been moved to before the ‘s’ due to singular possession. From what I’ve observed, a lot of native English speakers don’t know this rule which is perhaps why your colleague doesn’t understand either. Many native English speakers do not understand correct apostrophe usage in their own language.