More on LED grammar
- Thread starter jpanhalt
- Start date
ELECTRONERD
- Joined May 26, 2009
- 1,147
I would say C, because apostrophes show possesion and in this case it would be "I," as in you.
Example: "These are Nan and Faron's compact discs." ( The compact discs belong to both Nan and Faron.)
In our example, "I want to control 5 LED's" ( The five Light Emitting Diodes belong to "I" or actually you).
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I think you misinterpreted the question. Let me explain it a little. In the example, do you need to make the plural of LED, and if so, what is the plural of LED? It is not intended to mean the possessive; although, that may not mean that an apostrophe s cannot be used.
John
John
ELECTRONERD
- Joined May 26, 2009
- 1,147
Yes, it would be plural. So, "I want to control 5 Light Emitting Diodes" Now that I think of it, It would be B since "Diodes" is correct. It is important whenever using acronyms that you unravell them to find the correct grammar.
someonesdad
- Joined Jul 7, 2009
- 1,583
As always, one should refer to his publication or style guide for a definitive answer. I prefer to use the Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed.) and the rule given there is to append a lower case s in most cases. The apostrophe is used when the abbreviation includes periods or lower case letters: p's and q's, Ph.D.'s (and PhD's is also OK). Whether the apostrophe is possessive is determined by semantics, not syntax. If you're interested, the CMS will also give some examples of exceptions to these rules.
ELECTRONERD
- Joined May 26, 2009
- 1,147
While "D" is the first letter for both "diode" and "diodes" you will know. In your example, it was evident that an "s" needed to be added at the end of "diode. "I want to control 5 Light Emitting Diode" simply doesn't make sense. People can go from there and choose the correct "s" format.
@ Electronerd
I think you are missing the point. An acronym stands alone. It can be spoken as a single word (e.g., radar, SWAT) or by its individual letters (e.g., LED, DNC). The way the acronym sounds, not the words from which it is derived, is critical to the grammar. Just as one should say, "A Light Emitting Diode," one should also say "Five Light Emitting Diodes." While "A Light Emitting Diode" is correct, "A LED" is incorrect, assuming that person is following the common practice of saying the individual letters.
I believe any one of the responses I posed in this thread could be used in the blank, depending on context. By far, the least likely form is "LED" (Example: I want to control a 5-LED beacon, i.e., make it an adjective).
Of the other two options, both are used commonly and are arguably correct. I prefer LEDs when I mean the plural and LED's when I mean the possessive.
However, an apostrophe can often mean the plural (hence the wording I used in response #3). If your child got an A in every course at school, would you write, "My child got all As -- even worse, all as?" Or, would you write, "My child got all A's?" Similarly, the plural of 1 is 1's, X is X's, etc. I would use an apostrophe for the plural of any acronym when adding an "s" might lead to confusion. I would also omit the "s" if the plural form looked silly or couldn't be pronounced, e.g., the plural of POTUS, which is usually spoken as if it were a word.
John
POTUS = President of the United States
I think you are missing the point. An acronym stands alone. It can be spoken as a single word (e.g., radar, SWAT) or by its individual letters (e.g., LED, DNC). The way the acronym sounds, not the words from which it is derived, is critical to the grammar. Just as one should say, "A Light Emitting Diode," one should also say "Five Light Emitting Diodes." While "A Light Emitting Diode" is correct, "A LED" is incorrect, assuming that person is following the common practice of saying the individual letters.
I believe any one of the responses I posed in this thread could be used in the blank, depending on context. By far, the least likely form is "LED" (Example: I want to control a 5-LED beacon, i.e., make it an adjective).
Of the other two options, both are used commonly and are arguably correct. I prefer LEDs when I mean the plural and LED's when I mean the possessive.
However, an apostrophe can often mean the plural (hence the wording I used in response #3). If your child got an A in every course at school, would you write, "My child got all As -- even worse, all as?" Or, would you write, "My child got all A's?" Similarly, the plural of 1 is 1's, X is X's, etc. I would use an apostrophe for the plural of any acronym when adding an "s" might lead to confusion. I would also omit the "s" if the plural form looked silly or couldn't be pronounced, e.g., the plural of POTUS, which is usually spoken as if it were a word.
John
POTUS = President of the United States
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jpanhalt, ELECTRONERD, etc.
You all should read this link. http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Apostrophes .
Ratch
You all should read this link. http://www.wikihow.com/Use-Apostrophes .
Ratch
