The dreaded apostrophe ( ' ) (one eyed alien)
The apostrophe is the most misused punctuation in the English Language. Trust me. You see people putting it anywhere and everywhere without thinking about it, even adding it to pronouns – ‘Hi’s’ – no, that doesn’t say ‘hi’ with apostrophe ‘s’, it is meant to be ‘he is’. See what I mean? There is a blog dedicated to apostrophe abuse in public signs and institutions. It is worth checking out if only for a little laugh.
The apostrophe has two uses:
1. To show the omission of letters (the apostrophe of elision)
2. To form the possessive of nouns.
The omission of letters
When words are contracted (shortened) apostrophe is used to indicate the omission of a letter. Contractions are common in informal speaking and writing. However, with formal writing you should avoid contractions. Don’t be lazy! Do not be lazy.
For example
Who’s - Who is
Shouldn’t – Should not
Didn’t – Did not
It can also be used in numbers – for example ’08 = 2008
Forming possessive of nouns
You can’t form possessive of verbs. So if the word is a verb , a ‘doing’ word don’t even think about adding an apostrophe.
Rule of thumb – to check if you need an apostrophe to make it a possessive noun – try to put the phrase ‘of the’ in the sentence. For example
the man’s car = the car of the man = you need an apostrophe.
So you’ve decided you do need an apostrophe. Follow the simple rules below and you won’t go wrong.
Add ’s to the singular (just one) form of the word
For example the man’s bike.
Add ’s to the plural (more than one) forms that do not end in ‘s’
For example the children’s biscuits.
If the plural form does end in ‘s’ then just add the apostrophe (') without the ‘s’
For example: the five friends’ house.
Apostrophe is never used to denote plurals (more than one). So in the above example it is ‘friends’ (more than one friend) rather than ‘friend’s’. Because we are trying to show possession of the house by these friends we add an apostrophe after the ‘s’, like we would if we said ‘the man’s bike’. But why not apostrophe ‘s’ (’s) - because there is already a letter ‘s’ in the word ‘friends’ so an apostrophe ‘s’ just wouldn’t look or sound nice – try saying ‘friends’s house’. :-)
If there is joint possession and nouns are used then add the ’s at th end of the second/last noun. For example, Jane and Daniel’s dogs. Not Jane’s and Daniel’s dogs. Not Jane’s and Daniel dogs.
Why is there no ’s in dogs? Because we never use ’s to imply more than one. Dog – singular, one. Dogs – plural, more than one and therefore no ’s is used because apostrophe is not used to denote plural form.
If I discover more rules to help I will update this post so keep checking.
Remember, don’t use the apostrophe with pronouns.
Don’t use the apostrophe to denote plurals – for example ‘Apple’s on offer’ is wrong wrong wrong. You mean apple plural therefore it would be ‘Apples on offer’
Best way to avoid apostrophe error is to proofread your work.
You can practice what you’ve learnt here- even if you’re (contraction) an expert you’ll be surprised. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/skills/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_52.htm
And here : http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/interact/g_apostEX1.html
The apostrophe has two uses:
1. To show the omission of letters (the apostrophe of elision)
2. To form the possessive of nouns.
The omission of letters
When words are contracted (shortened) apostrophe is used to indicate the omission of a letter. Contractions are common in informal speaking and writing. However, with formal writing you should avoid contractions. Don’t be lazy! Do not be lazy.
For example
Who’s - Who is
Shouldn’t – Should not
Didn’t – Did not
It can also be used in numbers – for example ’08 = 2008
Forming possessive of nouns
You can’t form possessive of verbs. So if the word is a verb , a ‘doing’ word don’t even think about adding an apostrophe.
Rule of thumb – to check if you need an apostrophe to make it a possessive noun – try to put the phrase ‘of the’ in the sentence. For example
the man’s car = the car of the man = you need an apostrophe.
So you’ve decided you do need an apostrophe. Follow the simple rules below and you won’t go wrong.
Add ’s to the singular (just one) form of the word
For example the man’s bike.
Add ’s to the plural (more than one) forms that do not end in ‘s’
For example the children’s biscuits.
If the plural form does end in ‘s’ then just add the apostrophe (') without the ‘s’
For example: the five friends’ house.
Apostrophe is never used to denote plurals (more than one). So in the above example it is ‘friends’ (more than one friend) rather than ‘friend’s’. Because we are trying to show possession of the house by these friends we add an apostrophe after the ‘s’, like we would if we said ‘the man’s bike’. But why not apostrophe ‘s’ (’s) - because there is already a letter ‘s’ in the word ‘friends’ so an apostrophe ‘s’ just wouldn’t look or sound nice – try saying ‘friends’s house’. :-)
If there is joint possession and nouns are used then add the ’s at th end of the second/last noun. For example, Jane and Daniel’s dogs. Not Jane’s and Daniel’s dogs. Not Jane’s and Daniel dogs.
Why is there no ’s in dogs? Because we never use ’s to imply more than one. Dog – singular, one. Dogs – plural, more than one and therefore no ’s is used because apostrophe is not used to denote plural form.
If I discover more rules to help I will update this post so keep checking.
Remember, don’t use the apostrophe with pronouns.
Don’t use the apostrophe to denote plurals – for example ‘Apple’s on offer’ is wrong wrong wrong. You mean apple plural therefore it would be ‘Apples on offer’
Best way to avoid apostrophe error is to proofread your work.
You can practice what you’ve learnt here- even if you’re (contraction) an expert you’ll be surprised. http://www.bristol.ac.uk/arts/skills/grammar/grammar_tutorial/page_52.htm
And here : http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/interact/g_apostEX1.html
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