When scheduling a health check, you might wonder: is it a “doctor’s appointment” or a “doctor appointment”? While both phrases are understandable, “doctor’s appointment” is far more common in English. But why do we instinctively add that apostrophe? And are both truly correct when referring to Doctors Appointments?
The preference for “doctor’s appointment” boils down to English language conventions, although the grammatical reasons are more nuanced. Let’s delve into the specifics for language enthusiasts seeking clarity on doctors appointments and proper English usage.
Understanding the Role of the Apostrophe
Typically, the apostrophe followed by an ‘s’ ( ‘s ) in English indicates possession, like in “the dog’s toy.” While less frequent, it can also mark plurals in certain contexts (like “mind your p’s and q’s”) or contractions (as in “it’s” for “it is”).
However, there’s another function of ‘s that resembles possession but signifies something different. Consider “the bird’s song.” The song isn’t owned by the bird, but rather originates from it. Here, ‘s denotes the genitive of origin, a broader grammatical concept than simple possession.
Exploring the Genitive Case in Doctors Appointments
The term “genitive case” might sound technical, but it’s key to understanding phrases like “doctor’s appointment.” In grammar, a case indicates a noun’s relationship to other words in a sentence. The genitive case broadly expresses ownership, control, or association. Think of it as indicating a connection between two nouns.
Often, “genitive case” and “possessive case” are used interchangeably in modern English, mainly due to the influence of grammarians like Bishop Lowth. While this simplification is common, sticking with “genitive case” helps capture the wider sense of association and origin, not just strict ownership, which is relevant to doctors appointments.
Within the genitive case, we find categories like the “genitive of origin” (as in “bird’s song”) and the “descriptive genitive.” Grammar experts Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman at Grammarphobia aptly use “descriptive genitive” to explain “doctor’s appointment.”
They clarify the difference between “doctor’s appointment” and “doctor appointment” this way:
In “doctor’s appointment,” “doctor’s” acts genitively, describing the type of appointment. In “doctor appointment,” “doctor” functions attributively (like an adjective) to achieve the same description.
“Doctor’s” exemplifies a “descriptive genitive,” while “doctor” becomes an “attributive noun” or “noun adjunct.”
There’s no rigid rule dictating when to use a noun genitively or attributively before another noun. Idiomatic usage – what sounds natural to native speakers – often guides the choice.
Our analysis confirms that both “doctor’s appointment” and “doctor appointment” are grammatically sound. The preference for “doctor’s appointment,” which became prominent in the latter half of the 20th century, is largely a matter of linguistic convention. When discussing doctors appointments, “doctor’s appointment” simply became the more accepted and natural-sounding phrase.
In conclusion, while grammatically both options are valid for doctors appointments, “doctor’s appointment” aligns with established English usage and is the clearer, more conventional choice.
