grammar: CPAs or CPA's?

[VAisforlovers]

What's the correct grammar. I always find postings which says "CPA's Only" or "All CPA's welcome to attend."

Shouldn't it be CPAs?

CPA's is a possessive form so the correct sentence would be "This is my CPA's form"

I see the first example used so frequently that I am wondering for future reference.

 

[Krazy4Real]

I agree with your reasoning, but I'm not a nazi so I can't say for sure.

 

[kranky]

You're right, OP. It should be "CPAs." It's one of the most common errors - using an apostrophe when it doesn't belong.

 

[Mermaidman]

CPAs is correct, although this type of pluralization can get awkward occasionally. If you achieved a grade of A in every class, then did you get straight As or straight A's? :hmm:

 

[AstroManLuca]

CPAs is correct, although this type of pluralization can get awkward occasionally. If you achieved a grade of A in every class, then did you get straight As or straight A's? :hmm:

Straight A's. Normally you don't use an apostrophe to make something plural, but in that case it is necessary because otherwise you'd be writing the word "as."

CPAs
Straight A's/a's

EDIT: Never mind, I just looked it up, and you're supposed to use an apostrophe when pluralizing ANY single letter. So if you got a B in every class, you got straight B's. It doesn't matter if adding an s forms another word or not (as it does with the letter A).

For multi-letter abbreviations, though, you aren't supposed to use the apostrophe.

 

[BoomerD]

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/apostrophe.htm

An apostrophe is also used to form some plurals, especially the plural of letters and digits. Raoul got four A's last term and his sister got four 6's in the ice-skating competition. This is particularly useful when the letter being pluralized is in the lower case: "minding one's p's and q's" or "Don't forget to dot your i's." (In a context in which the plural is clear, apostrophes after upper-case letters are not necessary: "He got four As, two Bs, and three Cs.") It is no longer considered necessary or even correct to create the plural of years or decades or abbreviations with an apostrophe:

He wrote several novels during the 1930s.
There are fifteen PhDs on our faculty.
My sister and I have identical IQs.

(If you wrote Ph.D. with periods, you would add an apostrophe before the pluralizing "s": Ph.D.'s) If the abbreviation or acronym ends in "S," it's a good idea to separate this final "S" from the pluralizing "s" with an apostrophe: SOS's

 

[Aikouka]

That's why I dislike Logitech's new gaming mice; they simply tacked an 's' onto the end of the current names (e.g. G700 and G700s). So, if I said to you, "I just saw the G700s at Amazon.", then you would have no idea if I meant that I saw multiple G700 mice or the new G700s mouse.

After seeing that, I was rather flustered all day!

 

[Sluggo]

So if you got a B in every class, you got straight B's. It doesn't matter if adding an s forms another word or not (as it does with the letter A).

Well you wouldn't want people walking around saying they got straight bs in college would you?

 

[hans007]

you wouldn't write accountant's only right? so im pretty sure its CPAs.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Well you wouldn't want people walking around saying they got straight bs in college would you?

I know plenty of liberal arts majors who did exactly that.

<-- Liberal arts major.

 

[bigrash]

That's why I dislike Logitech's new gaming mice; they simply tacked an 's' onto the end of the current names (e.g. G700 and G700s). So, if I said to you, "I just saw the G700s at Amazon.", then you would have no idea if I meant that I saw multiple G700 mice or the new G700s mouse.

After seeing that, I was rather flustered all day!

I felt the same way after the iPhone 4S came out.

 

[zinfamous]

Well you wouldn't want people walking around saying they got straight bs in college would you?

I know plenty of liberal arts majors who did exactly that.

<-- Liberal arts major.

that's sad.

I got straight as with my liberal arts degree.

 

[JTsyo]

that's sad.

I got straight as with my liberal arts degree.

add another s to make it funny.

I got straight ass with my liberal arts degree.

 

[zinfamous]

add another s to make it funny.

 

[Rakehellion]

What's the correct grammar. I always find postings which says "CPA's Only" or "All CPA's welcome to attend."

Shouldn't it be CPAs?

CPA's is a possessive form so the correct sentence would be "This is my CPA's form"

I see the first example used so frequently that I am wondering for future reference.

You can use apostrophe S to pluralize letters, but it isn't necessary. That's the only case in which an apostrophe S is plural.

 

[Mermaidman]

Not to quibble, but McBain's missing an apostrophe.

 

[Aikouka]

I felt the same way after the iPhone 4S came out.

To be fair, at least the 's' in iPhone 4S is capitalized, so it isn't as confusing. The 's' in Logitech G700s is lower-case.

Although, most people probably aren't anal enough to worry about capitalization!

 

[JTsyo]

first I was thinking it was a gay joke, but then it didn't make sense. Well at least I got your joke, though I didn't realize you knew

 

[ComingInPeace:)]

Oh just realized how old this conversation is. And I registered in part to tell you Guys how much fun I had reading your posts!

 

[ThatsABigOne]

Ban for necromancy.