What does it mean? What is the grammar in the word "pested'd" of this article? especially the function of the single quotation mark.

Tristram Shandy's mother sleeps with his father only on the first Sunday of each month and on precisely that evening Mr. Shandy winds the clock in order to get both of these domestic duties "out of the way at one time, and be no more plagued and pester'd with them the rest of the month "(p.8).

Question

What does it mean? What is the grammar in the word "pested'd" of this article? especially the function of the single quotation mark.

Tristram Shandy's mother sleeps with his father only on the first Sunday of each month and on precisely that evening Mr. Shandy winds the clock in order to get both of these domestic duties "out of the way at one time, and be no more plagued and pester'd with them the rest of the month "(p.8).

Answer

Hey Tiffany :)

In the paragraph you have provided, 
-'Pestered' is used as a past participle;
-Grammar: It is a verb, however, in this paragraph it is used as an adjective and it shows 
 the adjective use.
-Meaning: To behave in an annoying manner towards someone by doing or asking for 
 something repeatedly.
- The function of the apostrophe (it is not a single quotation mark) reveals the old form of English writing which reveals that the vowel "e" is silent.  Take note that this type of writing is not used in modern language, we use an apostrophe to indicate possession and contractions.

I hope this helps. I am available for lessons should you need any further clarity :)

Answer

Can it be a typo? It should be an 'e' pestered, but I'm not sure that there's something else maybe used in literature.
Is it in a book?

Answer

Pester'd = Pestered. It is just the past participle of the verb 'pester'.
The apostrophe (') indicates that a letter is missing. The missing letter is 'e'.

Đừng bỏ lỡ cơ hội học ngoại ngữ ngay tại nhà. Hãy xem danh sách các gia sư ngôn ngữ giàu kinh nghiệm của chúng tôi và đăng ký buổi học đầu tiên ngay hôm nay!