"30 years worth" or "30 years' worth"?

"30 years worth" or "30 years' worth"?

Postby btz » 3:29 pm 05/17/2010

I'd love to move past this sentence, but I can't seem to figure it out.

"...30 years worth of company documents..."

or

"...30 years' worth of company documents..."

?

The "worth" is throwing me off and keeping me from going with the apostrophized version.

Any guidance leading to the alleviation of my mental paralysis would be incredibly appreciated.
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Re: "30 years worth" or "30 years' worth"?

Postby dfisher » 5:21 am 05/19/2010

Traditionally it is with the apostrophe.
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Re: "30 years worth" or "30 years' worth"?

Postby btz » 3:45 pm 05/19/2010

Thanks, Doug!
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Re: "30 years worth" or "30 years' worth"?

Postby Neil Holdway » 2:31 am 11/24/2010

I agree with apostrophe. I have a harder time with "$30 million worth of paintings." If you used the word "dollars," you'd have an apostrophe on it, too. Sometimes I rewrite to say "$30 million in paintings."
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