2 years experience?

[yougood]

Hi sir,
I asked a question " Is it gramatically correct to say ' I need a typist with 2 years' experience'?".
Alan replied with a yes to this question.
A few days ago, I saw Jeffcox type a sentence like
" I have a total of 2 years experience......".
I am confused and do not know if Jeff's sentence
should be changed to " I have a total of 2 years' experience".

Thanks in advance,
Yougood

[jeffcox]

Oh, the apostrophe, you should use it because the number is a measurement of time, which takes the genitive AND most grammarians go for this.

As for if it is absolutely correct... ah, who knows.
Grammarians who follow Latin believe that it is the genitive case and needs an apostrophe.

Other grammarians believe that the number phrase is a noun phrase used in the attributive form as an adjective, as in old German - and its function in the sentence is that of an adjective and not possessive - therefore it doesn't need an apostrophe.

The debate among grammarians is still going on.

Tradition dictates you use an apostrophe and this option is the more predominant among the grammarians. As I've said before, it's better to go with what is still considered correct by the majority.