Grammar question

[VectraMan]

OK, so how about this example "The madman had ten mens strength"

I'd say an apostrophe belongs there, and I'd also claim the sentence construction is the same.

However, that example does raise another question: As "men" is already plural, would one write " men's " or " mens' "?

Ten men's strength, or The strength of ten men. Clearly posesssion. Do the years own the Java experience?

[VectraMan]

Thinking about it a bit more, what you mean in your first example is "10 years of Java experience", but you've omitted the "of". You're expressing a quantity, and you don't say "five's apples", or "two pint's of milk".

Ten men's strength, doesn't have the implied "of". "Ten men of strength" would mean something different, and "ten men" by itself isn't a quantity of strength.

So the second example isn't the same.

[OwlHoot]

Ten men's strength, or The strength of ten men. Clearly posesssion.

Yup

Do the years own the Java experience?

Let's ditch the "Java", and consider two sentences:

"I have ten years of experience"

"I have the experience of ten years"

In both cases the experience derives from the years, so there's no semantic difference. But grammatically, yes, in the second version the years "own" the experience.

So just as you agree that "I have the strength of ten men" expressed as "I have ten men's strength" has an apostrophe, so the second form should have one when expressed as "I have ten years' experience".

BUT, if you interpret the OP's sentence as the first form above, with the "of" dropped, out of laziness or something, then no it doesn't have an apostrophe. So in that sense the whole question is a bit subjective.

Oh I do love grammatical nit picking on a saturday morning, or any time.

[VectraMan]

Let's ditch the "Java", and consider two sentences:

"I have ten years of experience"

"I have the experience of ten years"

But the second one is gramatically incorrect. It makes no sense to use a quantity like that; it's like saying "I have the milk of two pints".

You could say "I have the experience of ten men", or "I have ten men's experience". The difference is "ten men" isn't a quantity of experience, but "ten years" is.

[d000hg]

Since when do you use apostrophe's for plural nouns? Apostrophe's are for possession or for contractions; neither applies here.

There are 4 badgers. The badgers' feet are small. Isn't this correct?

[VectraMan]

There are 4 badgers. The badgers' feet are small. Isn't this correct?

Yes. Next.

[OwlHoot]

But the second one is gramatically incorrect. It makes no sense to use a quantity like that; it's like saying "I have the milk of two pints".

It's figurative, like saying "I have the milk of human kindness".

Whether it makes practical sense has no bearing on the grammar.

[The Wikir Man]

Correct since years is a plural? Or no apostrophe at all?

"I have worked with Java for 10 years". Simple.

[The Wikir Man]

That seems right to me, what about this one:
If I have an acronym, such as 'NDA', where the pronunciation starts with a vowel (en-dee-ay), is it correct to write 'I'll agree to sign an NDA'? Is it the same way in speech? Strictly speaking shouldn't it be written 'a NDA' and spoken 'an NDA'?

Write it as it's spoken - "an NDA".

It gets more complex if you have an acronym which could be pronounced in two different ways, e.g. SQL (see-quel, or ess-queue-ell).

To be honest, I wouldn't fuss too much - if anyone says anything, blame it on the dodgy keyboard.

[NickFitz]

How to Use an Apostrophe in illustrated form