4

I’m pretty sure I have this right; here's my sentence:

There were a few random music friends from decades’ past there to see her, and she couldn’t be any prouder.

Do I have the apostrophe right?

tchrist
  • 134,759
Stu W
  • 7,116
  • 1
    Did you write the sentence? –  Jan 02 '16 at 05:02
  • It seems obvious from the question that he wrote it ans, no, there is no apostrophe required, as the OP is indicating plurality and not possessiveness. – Mawg says reinstate Monica Jan 02 '16 at 08:44
  • As a UK native speaker, the phrase "music friends" grates on my ear. If they play music, then you can use "musical friends". If they are fans of the same genre, I am unsure how to phrase it elegantly. Another question, perhaps? (hmmm, "there were a few random friends, united by their love of music, there...."? That still suonds clumsy) – Mawg says reinstate Monica Jan 02 '16 at 08:57

3 Answers3

6

Do I have the apostrophe right?

No. There is no apostrophe.

There were a few random music friends from decades past there to see her, and she couldn't be any prouder.

Past here basically means "in the past."

Kyle
  • 2,649
6

No.

It would be if "decades" were a person called Decades, and the few random friends were from his past:

... friends from Decades' past ...

However, "past" here is an adjective modifying the word "decades." So, no apostrophe.

Ricky
  • 20,450
2

As others have pointed out, an apostrophe can indicate a missing letter ("Able was I, e'er I saw Elba"), or possessiveness ("The apostrophe's proper usage"), but never plurality, although this is a very common mistake.

I would also like to point out that "There were" is past and "she couldn't be" is present.

Personally, I would match the tenses and write

There were a few random music friends from decades' past there to see her, and she couldn't have been any prouder

Mawg says reinstate Monica
  • 350