Of all the punctuation marks in American English, the apostrophe has to be the most misunderstood and misused.
Tiny though it is, it wields a huge power to confuse users and readers.
But there are just 3 basic rules for using an apostrophe, at least in American English:
- It shows one or more letters missing from two words that have been connected, and it always goes right were the letter or letters would be.
Examples
It is = it’s because we removed the second “i” and we need to account for it.
there is = there’s … where’s = where is …
What’s that? = What is that?
BUT: its’ (with the apostrophe after the three letters) is NOT a word, although spellcheck here is not showing us that.
- It shows a possessive form of a word, and that’s sometimes tough for writers.
Example: The dogs ears were huge.
This could be “The dog’s ears were huge” OR it could be “The dogs’ ears were huge.”
The first version is about just one dog; the second includes more than one.
You have to ask yourself: What am I writing about? Ears of the dog or ears of the dogs?
One thing / person / animal … or more than one?
Basic rules:
For most single nouns, add just add an apostrophe and an s.
For most plural nouns, add just an apostrophe.
But when a plural noun does NOT end in an s, add ’s.
Example: The children’s toys are all over her room!
For some other rules and ideas: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/punctuation-capitalization/apostrophe/
- When using possessive pronouns, though, we do not use an apostrophe. They’re just fine as is.
Example: That book is yours (NOT your’s or yours’). And as I’m typing this, I’m noticing that the first word (your’s) is underlined in red as the spellcheck knows it’s WRONG. But the second one is seen as OK, and it’s just plain not.
The second group is the toughest one because there’s no difference in how we say those words, whether they’re being used in a singular or plural way. Our ears may not be able to remind us of the differences in the words!
Next month I’ll prepare another quiz to see how you’re doing with what we’ve talked about so far!
