Not always do I feel constrained to conceal the identity of a Forum member asking a grammar question nor to mask the particulars of the subject being asked about, but this time I will be doing both. This is to spare everyone concerned from possible censure or embarrassment after the matter gets discussed in this column.
The Forum member sent me a photo of a wall signage of a barangay (I trust I have adequately masked its name) with the following announcement:
The Forum member asked me: “Is it grammatically correct?”
Here are my thoughts about the English of that signage:
I’ll start by saying that even if that signage consists of only 13 words, its English leaves much to be desired. Its grammar is seriously flawed, the most glaring of which is that of its slogan, “MULATAN’S NEVER STOPS.”
Recall that as a rule in English, the plural form of a noun is the noun plus “-s,” so the plural of “Mulatan” is “Mulatans,” without an apostrophe between the last letter “n” and the pluralizing “-s.” But “Mulatans” is a plural subject that’s doing the action in that slogan, so the verb “stops” should be in the plural form as well. The correct form of that slogan should therefore be “MULATANS NEVER STOP,” with the verb “stops” minus the suffix “-s” that makes it singular.
We must always keep in mind that in English, the plural form of the noun itself and the plural of its possessive form are distinct grammatical forms.
In the typical plural form of a noun, an “-s” is added as a suffix, so for the singular noun “Mulatan,” the plural form adds an an “-s” as a suffix to make the noun “Mulatans.”
In contrast, the possessive form of a singular noun like “Mulatan” adds an apostrophe “-s” to the noun, like this: “Mulatan’s.” When this is done, the word ceases to be a noun and gets transformed into a singular possessive adjective. When a plural noun like “Mulatans” is used as a possessive adjective, it is marked with an apostrophe that comes after the pluralizing “s” and not between the last letter “n” and the pluralizing “-s,” like this: “Mulatans’.” This will be the case in a statement like, say, “
The Mulatans’ active participation in this program will be greatly appreciated.” (Here, the possessive adjective “Mulatans’” modifies the noun form “active participation.”)
So this explains why the community slogan “MULATAN’S NEVER STOPS” is grammatically erroneous. It misuses the singular possessive adjective “Mulatan’s” as a subject noun. In that slogan, the correct usage should be the plural noun “Mulatans” as subject of the statement “MULATANS NEVER STOP,” which uses the plural form “stop” of the verb instead of its singular form “stops.”
Now let’s take an even closer look at the grammatically rectified slogan “MULATANS NEVER STOP.”
That statement is now grammatically correct, but is it a logical and sensible community slogan? I personally don’t think so. It conjures in my mind a foolhardy, dangerous bunch of barangay residents who irrationally pursue anything to their hearts’ desire despite its possible adverse consequences to their community, like, say, not wearing face masks and not observing social distancing at all during a deadly pandemic.
In whatever language a slogan is expressed, it’s really not a virtue to never stop. Perhaps Barangay W. Mulatan and its barangay council can seriously rethink its “MULATANS NEVER STOP” slogan and come up with something more rational from a civic standpoint.
(Next week:
The need for caution in asserting what’s good or bad English) July 23, 2020
This essay, 2,003rd of the series, appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the July 18, 2020 Internet edition of The Manila Times
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Complications when using hyphenated possessives
