Which is correct: I ate the M&M's or I ate the M&Ms? With or without the apostrophe?
Asked
Active
Viewed 1,376 times
0
-
2This is really a matter of style, so the answer depends on which style guide you are following. – choster Feb 13 '15 at 19:39
-
2M&M's is the actual name of the candy, so in this case, M&M's would be the correct use. M&Ms would simply be a mispelling of the candy's name. In other cases, such as with letters (M's vs Ms, or B's vs Bs), using an apostrophe may be a matter of style. – Nick2253 Feb 13 '15 at 22:16
-
Who cares about the history of people who eat junk food. – David Aug 25 '19 at 13:24
-
Possible duplicate of What is the correct way to pluralize an acronym? – Mari-Lou A Aug 25 '19 at 14:06
3 Answers
2
Typically, an apostrophe is used with plurals only when leaving it out would cause confusion. For example, in the sentence All the students got A's, you'd use an apostrophe to make A plural because otherwise it'd be the word as. M&Ms, on the other hand, is clear in meaning without the apostrophe, so using one isn't necessary.
Nicole
- 11,828
1
Your M&Ms example is just a regular plural so no apostrophe.
Jim
- 19
-
1
-
Someone was once taken to court for spelling Biro with a small b. Lloyd's and Lloyds are very different organisations. – Edwin Ashworth Feb 13 '15 at 22:58
0
The problem is in the question. If there existed a candy named M&M, the correct plural would be M&Ms. However, when the candy is m&m, writing m&ms would be confusing. Is it em-and-em-es? I would use the plural form m&m's for clarity. Just as it says on the bag.