Apostrophes

What is an Apostrophe?

An apostrophe is a punctuation mark (‘) that appears as part of a word to show possession, to make a plural number or to indicate the omission of one or more letters.

Three Uses of Apostrophes:

In most cases an apostrophe is used to show possession. In such cases, one noun will always be followed by another noun, i.e., the one it possesses.

Ex: Gloria's hat…

Ex: Chase's red car…

1. To Show Possession:

Singular and Plural Nouns

· To make a singular noun that does not end in "s" possessive, add an apostrophe and an "s"

Ex: The cat's master loves his cat.

· To make a plural noun that does not end in "s" possessive, add an apostrophe and an "s"

Ex: The men's restroom is closed for repairs.

Nouns Ending in "S"

· To make a singular noun ending in "s" possessive, add an apostrophe and an "s"

Ex: John Keats's death inspired Shelley's famous elegy, "Adonais."

· If a singular noun ends with an "s" and contains an additional "s" sound elsewhere in the noun, add only the apostrophe to make the noun possessive.

Ex: Jesus' birth in a stable symbolizes the close relationship between man and nature.

· To make a plural noun ending in "s" possessive, add only an apostrophe

Ex: The cats' master loves his cats.

Compound Words or Group Words

· To make compound words or a group of words possessive, add an apostrophe and an "s" to only the last word.

Ex: Singular: The chairman of the board's decision was final.

Ex: Plural: The daughters-in-law's children argue about everything.

Separate and Joint Possession

· To make two nouns show separate possession, add an apostrophe and an "s" after each possessive noun.

Ex: Kari's and Lynn's bikes are in excellent condition.

(They each have a bike.)

· To make two nouns show joint possession, add an apostrophe only to the second unit.

Ex: Cameron and Mitch's car broke down last week.

(They share a car.)

2. To Make Plural:

Time and Money

· To make units of time and money plural, apply possession rules for singular and plural nouns.

Ex of Singular: A day's wage, an hour's wait, the dollar's value

Ex of Plural: Two days' wages, two hours' wait, two dollars' value

Word Plurals

· To make words used as a plural, add an apostrophe and an "s"

Ex: Mindy completed the work with no if's, and's, or but's.

(Do not use apostrophes to make numbers or acronyms plural.)

Incorrect: 1990’s Correct: 1990s

Incorrect: four VIP’s Correct: four VIPs

3. To Indicate Omission:

Contractions

· To form contractions, use an apostrophe in place of the omitted letters.

Ex: He can't find his wallet.

(The apostrophe takes the place of the omitted letters "n" and "o").

Ex: She isn't here.

(The apostrophe takes the place of the omitted letter "o").

Remember: There are three main uses for the apostrophe: to show possession, to make a plural number or to indicate omitted letters.