Need help with an apostrophe

[Pulpmeister]

I think you could omit the apostrophe altogether on the grounds that the word cats, in this context, is adjectival not possessive.

Arguable, of course.

[read abc]

You could go with cat singular but l think if you stick with cat's, its appropriate to the context and reads more fluidly.

[HarryT]

It should be "a cats' orgy". It's the "orgy" which is singular, not the cat. There are multiple cats, hence the apostrophe goes after the "s".

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by HarryT

It should be "a cats' orgy". It's the "orgy" which is singular, not the cat. There are multiple cats, hence the apostrophe goes after the "s".

That would be true if cat was being used as a noun, but it is not. It is being used as an adjective..

A blue orgy vs A cat orgy

It is not "a group of cats was having an orgy" it is "a cat orgy"

In neither case, IMO, does the cat OWN the orgy, which would require the possessive case.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by VydorScope

That would be true if cat was being used as a noun, but it is not. It is being used as an adjective..

A blue orgy vs A cat orgy

It is not "a group of cats was having an orgy" it is "a cat orgy"

In neither case, IMO, does the cat OWN the orgy, which would require the possessive case.

I'm sorry, but I disagree with you. It's "the orgy belonging to the cats"; hence "cats' orgy".

[ekster]

I think I would agree with VyderScope.

Replacing the orgy and the cat with something else...

If it was an object in question, I would add the possessive...
It sounded like a musician's violin.

But a sound made in an orgy by cats is not an object that someone can possess... so it would be closer to:
It sounded like an opera voice.
It looked like a Russian dance.
It felt like a winter chill.

The voice doesn't belong to the opera, the dance doesn't belong to Russians, and the chill definitely doesn't belong to the winter... they're only found in those places/things, they don't actually belong to them. And neither does the orgy (or the sound of it) belong to cats (or any specific cat), it is simply found at an orgy performed by the cats.

A cat orgy would make more sense to me.

[HarryT]

We must agree to differ.

[mr ploppy]

Well at least nobody who reads it will know if it's right or not either.

[Penforhire]

Don't worry, readers like me will send you corrections anyway, lol. Feel free to ignore them, most authors seem to.

[mr ploppy]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

Don't worry, readers like me will send you corrections anyway, lol. Feel free to ignore them, most authors seem to.

I've noticed that as well. In fact I had one reply a few weeks ago saying he wasn't interested because there was no point fixing them. The best ones either send you some free stuff or offer you money to proof their next book, but those are very rare.

[VydorScope]

Originally Posted by Penforhire

Don't worry, readers like me will send you corrections anyway, lol. Feel free to ignore them, most authors seem to.

Readers like you must be extremely rare. I have only ever had one person send me correction, and that was only because the person is a member here who "knows" me through means other then the book.

[sphinxkarado]

Wraylewis
I don't know about cats, but I sound like that way too often. Hormones, damned with 'em, damned without 'em. But I do believe a "cat" orgy would be the way to go. Gets around all the confusion. I've been dyslexic my entire life..it's getting better since I began writing...So, proper grammar is a struggle. Wouldn't have a clue if my participle is dangling, or not.

[sbroome]

Cat orgy. Cat describes the type of orgy.