Entry 008: Dog's must is on the leash? Dog is must be on leash? (Rules Project)

To conclude my Rules Project, I am going to use the Internet to gather a few more examples of public signs that feature grammar mistakes.  I will give credit to blogs and grammar sources at the bottom of each post.

Unlike previous posts that detail instances of missing apostrophes, the following sign, found near a hiking trail in North Carolina*, features an unnecessary apostrophe.  Can you find it?

Okay, so that was easy -- there is only one part of this sign with an apostrophe.  Even so, the error jumps out.  We can add an "'s" to a word for two reasons:

First, "'s" can be used as a contraction, as in:  "Peter's going to have to buy a strainer if he is ever to make pasta in his new apartment."

It can also be used to indicate possession of an object, as we've discussed already in the blog.**  For example, we could say:  "Peter's old strainer is somewhere between his previous and current apartment."

In this sign, none of these two conditions for adding an apostrophe are present.  "Dog is must be on leash" sounds like alien-speak, and a "must" is not something that a dog (or a person, to my knowledge) can possess.

Therefore, the sign should simply read, "Dogs must be on leash."





*https://thegrammarvandal.wordpress.com/2007/07/28/grammar-errors-nationwide/

**See Jane Straus's explanation of proper apostrophe use at her website:  http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp.