What is an
Apostrophe?
An apostrophe is a punctuation mark that looks like this: ’ (sort of half of a quote)
The rules for apostrophes vary with the type of word. Learn where to put apostrophes so that your writing is clear and correct. In short, apostrophes are frequently used to indicate possession and in contractions, but generally not to pluralize.
An apostrophe is a punctuation mark that looks like this: ’ (sort of half of a quote)
The rules for apostrophes vary with the type of word. Learn where to put apostrophes so that your writing is clear and correct. In short, apostrophes are frequently used to indicate possession and in contractions, but generally not to pluralize.
1.Never use an apostrophe
to indicate a plural.
If you have more than one
apple, then write apples, not apple's.
2.Use apostrophes to
indicate possession.
There are two basic methods
that make use of an apostrophe in constructing the possessive. Most words use an
apostrophe followed by an "s" at the end of the word, although many
situations require simply an apostrophe.
o Place an apostrophe before the "s"
when you are indicating a singular possessive.
§ "Jacob's shoes are very cool." The
shoes belong to Jacob (singular: one person).
§ "I found the dog's old bone buried in the
backyard." The bone belongs to the dog (singular: a single dog).
o Place an apostrophe after the "s"
when you are dealing with a possessive plural case that has an
"s" at the end (e.g., book to books, tree to trees).
But if the word is plural without an "s" at the end, this rule
does not apply; add an apostrophe and an "s" as if the word were
singular.
§ "Look at all of the sailors' boats!"
The boats belong to the sailors (plural: there is more than one sailor).
§ “The pupils’ books have been marked.” The books belong
to the pupils. (Plural: there is more than one pupil.)
§ "The children's dresses were pink and
frilly." The dresses belong to the children, but since the word children
is already plural without having to add an "s" at the end,
this is an exception.
§ “The men’s coats were well designed.” The coats belong
to the men, but since the word men is already plural without having to add an
“s” at the end, this is an exception.
3.Use apostrophes in
contractions.
Sometimes, especially
in informal writing, apostrophes are used to indicate one or more
missing letters. For example, the word "don't" is short for "do
not"; other examples include "isn't," "wouldn't," and
"can't."
(Will provide you with more examples
later on. )
Contractions can also be
made with the verbs "is," "has," and "have." For
example, we can write
"She's going to
school" instead of "She is going to school"; or
"He's lost the
game" instead of "He has lost the game."
A similar usage can be found
in the notation of calendar years, as in '07.
In this case, the apostrophe
appears in the spot where the missing numbers would have been (before the
number, not after as in 07').
4. Be aware of the
its/it's trap.
Use
an apostrophe with the word "it" only when you want to indicate a
contraction for "it is" or "it has." It is a
pronoun, and pronouns have their own possessive form that does not use an
apostrophe. For example, "That noise? It's just the dog eating its
bone."
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