Is this correct(People who are good at english, come here!)?

[uss]

Ok, here`s the thing: My English teacher wrote on the blackboard "I try to get about eight hours` sleep so that i´m fresh for school." I know that "Eight hours OF sleep" is correct but what about the sentence she wrote? Notice the " ´ " in the word "hours". She said it has to be there to indicate that that verb strong(or long or whatever you britts say).

[ 10-21-2002, 07:53 AM: Message edited by: uss ]

[andrewas]

' is incorrect. "of" is optional, properly it should be there but it is often omitted.

[Attalus]

Yes, uss, that that is a colloquial use of the possessive, since "night" is an abstract in that usage, meaning an arbitrary stretch of time, and cannot possess anything. On the other hand, "The night's darkness" would be all right.

[Leonis]

Uss, I would say "eight hours sleep" or "eight hours of sleep" are both correct, common and practical in everyday english. I have never seen the ' symbol used in this way.

[Barry the Sprout]

As far as I am aware andrewas is correct. The apostrophe is misplaced, but the "of" is indeed optional.

[Gammit]

I consulted some fellow teacher types from the English department (I wanted to be sure, and I study science and mathematics), and have determined that the use of the apostrophe "'" is entirely incorrect. The word "hours" is in no way possessive. Hopefully your teacher is wise enough to correct this mistake with no loss of ego.