[Grammar] ... but the 200’s seem to be doing the job just fine for us.

[kadioguy]

[From a TOEIC test]

Woman: Hello, Juan. This is Helen Luna at Magnum Heating Supplies. I’ve been going over our customer records, and I see that you currently use our Model 200 filters for your heating systems. I’m just calling to ask: have you considered upgrading to the Model 201 filters?

Mam: I guess it’s a possibility, but the 200’s seem to be doing the job just fine for us.

Woman: Well, the reason I ask is that for the next 90 days the Model 201 filters will be on sale for the same price as the Model 200’s you’re using now, so this would be a good time to change to the newer model.

Mam: Hmm. Let me talk about it with our maintenance staff and see what they think.

(Source, the answer)
---
Question: Is it better to omitted the apostrophes above?

A friend told me, "Yeah. The way I see it is since you can't interpret the filters as a possession of its model name. It’s not ‘filters belonging to the Model 200’; Model 200 is the name of the filters. It doesn't make sense to somehow create a possessive relationship between an object and itself. If you use the possessive form you are saying that it belongs to itself, which is weird. I’d say the 200s, and the Model 200s."

I agree with them. However, I'd also like to hear your opinions.

 

[probus]

Many people would use those apostrophes. I hate it and disagree with it and would never do it myself. But being firmly committed to the descriptionist view, I cannot call it incorrect English.

 

[kadioguy]

Many people would use those apostrophes.

Would they see the filters as a possession of its model name?

 

[SoothingDave]

No, they use apostrophes to form plurals of numbers. To some people, writing "the 1970s" looks odd and they prefer "the 1970's."

One possible reason: what if we're talking about a product like an iPhone 6SE. If we write "6SEs" it's not clear if we're pluralizing it or if the lowercase s at the end is part of the model number. If we write "6SE's" it's clear we're pluralizing. Denoting the "s" as something distinct from the name/number.

 

[tzfujimino]

... and it's "Man", not "Mam".

 

[emsr2d2]

The apostrophe is wrong for me, but I'm aware that occasionally adding one before the pluralising "s" makes a word look less clunky. I see no reason for it in that example.

 

[kadioguy]

The apostrophe is wrong for me, but I'm aware that occasionally adding one before the pluralising "s" makes a word look less clunky. I see no reason for it in that example.

In post #1 there are two apostrophes (in red), so I used the plural form. If you don't mind, could you please tell me why you used the singular form? (Does that mean in some cases we could use one to stand for all?)

 

[emsr2d2]

My "it" referred to "using one [an apostrophe]".

 

[Tarheel]

I concur with those who say don't use an apostrophe there.

 

[Tdol]

I wouldn't use it- it adds nothing and doesn't make things clearer for me.

 

[Rover_KE]

Forums like this should stress to students that inserting an apostrophe after simple plurals is wrong — however many times they see native speakers using them.

 

[kadioguy]

I found this:

Practical English Usage 3rd

524.5 plurals in 's

An apostrophe (') is used before the -s in the plurals of letters of the alphabet, and sometimes in the plurals of dates and abbreviations.

She spelt 'necessary' with two c's.

I loved the 1960's. (the 1960s is more common)

PC's are getting cheaper. (PCs is more common)

​

It is not correct to use -'s in other plurals, e.g. [STRIKE]jean's[/STRIKE]

 

[jutfrank]

My sincere apologies, jutfrank. Meaning to respond to your post, I accidentally edited it, and can't recover your original.

A very embarrassed 5jj.

 

[tzfujimino]

If I remember it correctly, jutfrank responded to Rover, saying something like "I wouldn't go that far."

 

[jutfrank]

My sincere apologies, jutfrank. Meaning to respond to your post, I accidentally edited it, and can't recover your original.

A very embarrassed 5jj.

No worries.

My point in passing was only to mention that though most of us here dislike the use of apostrophes as shown in post #12, I doubt we'd go as far as to say the usage is wrong.

 

[5jj]

I agree.