Apostrophes’
1. To show possession (ownership)
- To form the possessive case of most singular nouns, add an apostrophe and an s.
Ex: Ms. York’s desk Kasey’s Book
Note:
For a proper name ending in s, add only an apostrophe if the name has two or more syllables and if the addition of the ‘s would make the name awkward to pronounce.
Ex: Ulysses’ plan (you wouldn’t say Ulysses’s plan)
Mrs. Rawlings’ car West Indies’ export
For a singular common noun ending in s, add both an apostrophe and an s if the added s is pronounced as a separate syllable.
Ex: the actress’s costumes the dress’s sleeves
The class’s teacher A platypus’s tail
B.To form the possessive case of a plural noun ending in s, add only an apostrophe.
Ex: two birds’ feathers The girl scouts’ uniforms
Note: Although most plural nouns end in s, some are irregular. To form the possessive case of a plural noun that does not end in s, add an apostrophe and s.
Ex: children’s shoes Those deer’s food
C.Possessive personal pronouns do not require an apostrophe.
Ex: this plant is ours. That is your watch.
D.Indefinite pronouns in the possessive case require an apostrophe and s.
Ex: nobody’s wishes someone’s license
Another’s viewpoint
E.Generally, in compound words, names of organizations and businesses, and words showing joint possession, only the last word is possessive in form.
Ex: community board’s meeting
Her brother-in-law’s gifts
United Fund’s Drive
Jen and Bill’s tent (meaning the tent belongs to both of them)
Note:
When one of the words showing joint possession is a pronoun, both words should be possessive in form.
Ex: Jennie’s and my tent (not Jennie and my tent)
Possessive of an acronym- add an apostrophe and s.
Ex: NASA’s latest space probeCBS’s hit television series
F. When two or more persons possess something individually, each of their names is possessive in form.
Ex: MRs. Abel’s and Ms. York’s classes are meeting in the library today. [the classes of two different teachers]
Dean’s and Michael’s four-wheelers were covered in mud. [individual, not joint, possession- both have muddy four-wheelers]
2. Contractions
A.Use an apostrophe to show where the letters, numerals, or words have been omitted in a contraction.
Ex: I’m she’s (she has) We’ve (we have)
For more examples, look at page 707 in your grammar book.
***IMPORTANT*** It’s = it is
Its= shows possession
It’s hot outside. It’s going to be fun having a long summer break. It’s going to be a good year.
The dog needs a bath; its hair was matted.
The Test- use IT’s if It Is makes sense in the sentence.
3. Plurals
A.To prevent confusion, use an apostrophe and a s to form the plurals of lowercase letters, some capital letters, numerals, symbols, and some words that are referred to as words.
Ex: Grandma always tells me to mind my p’s and q’s.
I got A’s on both tests that I took last week.
(Apostrophe is used because without one the plural spells the word as.)
The 1’s in this exercise look like I’s.
His hi’s are always cheerful. (w/out the apostrophe the plural spells the word his.)