“Das was damals, das ist jetzt”

 [[{“value”:”The Council for German Orthography (RdR) caused a stir amongst grammar perfectionists on Monday when it announced that as of 2025, an apostrophe used to indicate possession will be considered correct. Since 2004, the RdR has been considered the leading source on Standard High German spelling and grammar, and is relied on for school textbooks in Germany,
The post “Das was damals, das ist jetzt” appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.”}]] 

The Council for German Orthography (RdR) caused a stir amongst grammar perfectionists on Monday when it announced that as of 2025, an apostrophe used to indicate possession will be considered correct.

Since 2004, the RdR has been considered the leading source on Standard High German spelling and grammar, and is relied on for school textbooks in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

In English, possession of an object is almost always implied by use of an apostrophe, as in: Henry’s Bar, Bloomingdale’s department store.

Not so in German, where possession is either shown by use of the genitive grammatical case, or without an apostrophe as in the case of Annes Cafe (Anne’s cafe).

However, in recent decades it has become increasingly common, especially for small businesses, to use the apostrophe in German to indicate possession: Andi’s Imbiss (Andi’s restaurant), Kim’s Kiosk.

Here is the full story, the informing email was Mike Doherty’s.

The post “Das was damals, das ist jetzt” appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

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