There is probably no more misused mark of punctuation than the apostrophe. This tricky little punctuation mark creates more havoc and incorrect grammar than any other. Unlike many other marks of punctuation, apostrophes are often overused by many people. You’ll often see them popping up in advertisements and signs where they have no need to be. This misplacement often leads to a serious corruption of the original sentence and can change the meaning the writer intended to convey, which is why it is crucial that you understand the correct placement and usage of this mark.
Because people become confused about the purpose of apostrophes, they end up using them in all sorts of creative ways. Perhaps you’ve done so yourself. If so, take heart, because you’re certainly not alone. You can walk into almost any store and see signs like the following that feature the incorrect use of the apostrophe:
Special price’s this week!
Rent two movie’s today!
Five can’s for $4.00!
In these examples, none of the words that have an apostrophe needs one. Each is a simple plural, and you almost never need to use an apostrophe to denote a plural. Using an apostrophe correctly doesn’t have to be difficult.
There are three basic situations in which an apostrophe would be the correct choice:
1. Contractions
2. Possession
3. Forming a plural (rare)
That’s it. Funny how often this mark is used when it really only has a limited number of circumstances that truly need it. Let’s dive deeper into when you will need the apostrophe in the following sections. We’ll start with the easiest use of the apostrophe, the contraction.
An apostrophe often indicates that at least one letter has been omitted from a word, and the word that’s formed is called a contraction. For example, the contraction don’t stands for do not; the o in not has been omitted. I’ll is a short form of I will; in this case the wi of will has been omitted. Here are some examples of the most common contractions:
• are not becomes aren’t
• cannot becomes can’t
• could not becomes couldn’t
• did not becomes didn’t
• does not becomes doesn’t
• do not becomes don’t
• had not becomes hadn’t
• has not becomes hasn’t
• have not becomes haven’t
• he had, he would becomes he’d
• he will, he shall becomes he’ll
• he is, he has becomes he’s
• I had, I would becomes I’d
• I will, I shall becomes I’ll
• I am becomes I’m
• I have becomes I’ve
• is not becomes isn’t
• let us becomes let’s
• must not becomes mustn’t
• shall not becomes shan’t
• she had, she would becomes she’d
• she will, she shall becomes she’ll
• she is, she has becomes she’s
• should not becomes shouldn’t
• that is, that has becomes that’s
• there is, there has becomes there’s
• they had, they would becomes they’d
• they will, they shall becomes they’ll
• they are becomes they’re
• they have becomes they’ve
• we had, we would becomes we’d
• we are becomes we’re
• we have becomes we’ve
• were not becomes weren’t
• what will, what shall becomes what’ll
• what are becomes what’re
• what is, what has becomes what’s
• what have becomes what’ve
• where is, where has becomes where’s
• who had, who would becomes who’s
• who will, who shall becomes who’ll
• who are becomes who’re
• who is, who has becomes who’s
• who have becomes who’ve
• will not becomes won’t
• would not becomes wouldn’t
• you had, you would becomes you’d
• you will, you shall becomes you’ll
• you are becomes you’re
• you have becomes you’ve
Additionally, sometimes authors will use apostrophes in contractions to help readers understand dialect. For instance, an author might write, “Alice is goin’ swimmin’ today.” Readers understand that the final -gs are omitted from going and swimming, and that the author is trying to duplicate the type of speech (the dialect) a character uses.
Before using an apostrophe to show possession, first make sure the phrase you’re questioning actually denotes possession and isn’t simply a plural. For instance, in the phrase the babies’ rattles, the babies possess rattles (so an apostrophe indicates this to readers); however, in the phrase the babies in their cribs, the babies aren’t possessing anything and an apostrophe isn’t needed.
Grammar Facts
One of the most common mistakes with apostrophes comes with possessive pronouns (its, yours, his, hers, theirs, ours, whose). Remember that the only one of these words that ever takes an apostrophe is its, and that happens only when the word means it is.
Here are some guidelines to help you make sense of it all.
If a singular noun doesn’t end in -s, its possessive ends in -’s. Say what? Take a look at this sentence:
The cars engine was still running.
The word cars needs an apostrophe to indicate possession, but where does the apostrophe go?
Use this mental trick: Take the word that needs the apostrophe (cars) and the word that it’s talking about (engine) and mentally turn the two words around so that the word you’re wondering about is the object of a preposition. (This rule may be easier for you to understand this way: Turn the words around so that they form a phrase. Usually the phrase will use of, from, or belonging to.)
When you change cars engine around, you come up with engine of the car. Now look at the word car. Car is singular and doesn’t end in -s, so the original should be punctuated -’s. You should have:
The car’s engine was still running.
Try the trick again with this sentence:
Donna Moores wallet was lying on the seat.
Mentally turn Donna Moores wallet around so that you have the wallet of (belonging to) Donna Moore.
After you’ve turned it around, you have the words Donna Moore, which is singular (in spite of being two words) and doesn’t end in -s. That lets you know that you need to use -’s. The sentence should be punctuated this way:
Donna Moore’s wallet was lying on the seat.
When you have plural nouns that end in -s (and most do), add an apostrophe after the final -s. This tells readers that you’re talking about several people, places, or things. The same mental trick of turning the two words into a phrase applies.
This sentence talks about two girls who had been reported missing:
The girls coats were found at the bus station.
Now just apply the trick. Take the phrase girls coats, and turn it around so that you have coats of (belonging to) the girls.
When you’ve turned the phrase around this time, the word girls ends in -s. This lets you know that you should add an apostrophe after the -s in girls, so the sentence is punctuated this way:
The girls’ coats were found at the bus station.
Although most English plurals end in -s or -es, our language has a number of exceptions (and didn’t you know there would be?), such as children, women, and deer. If a plural doesn’t end in -s, the possessive is formed with an -’s (that is, treat it as if it were singular).
Again, the turnaround trick applies. Take the sentence:
The childrens coats were covered with mud.
Mentally turn childrens coats into the phrase coats of the children. Since children doesn’t end in -s, its possessive would be -’s; so the correct punctuation would be:
The children’s coats were covered with mud.
So far, so good? You have just one tricky part left to consider. It concerns singular words that end in -s. Two ways of punctuating these words are common. Guideline 3 is used more often than Guideline 4, but many people find that Guideline 4 is easier to grasp.
If a singular word ends in -s, form its possessive by adding -’s (except in situations in which pronunciation would be difficult, such as Moses or Achilles). Look at this sentence:
Julie Jones information was invaluable in locating the missing girls.
Applying the turnaround trick would make the phrase that needs the apostrophe read this way: information from Julie Jones.
Guideline 3 would tell you that, since Jones is singular and ends in -s, you’d form the possessive by adding -’s. Therefore, the sentence would be punctuated this way:
Julie Jones’s information was invaluable in locating the missing girls.
However, you may be told to use another rule:
If a singular word ends in -s, form its possessive by adding an apostrophe after the -s. In this case, the sentence would be written this way:
Julie Jones’ information was invaluable in locating the missing girls.
If using Guideline 4 is okay with your teacher or employer, then you have to remember only two rules about placing the apostrophe in possessives:
1. After you mentally turn the phrase around, if the word in question doesn’t end in -s, add -’s.
2. After you mentally turn the phrase around, if the word in question ends in -s, add an apostrophe after the -s.
One use of apostrophes shows readers whether the people you’re talking about possess (own) something jointly or individually. Take a look at this sentence:
Jim and Allisons cars were stolen.
The question is, did Jim and Allison own the cars together or separately? If, say, Jim and Allison were a married couple and they had the misfortune of having two of their cars stolen, then the sentence would be punctuated this way:
Jim and Allison’s cars were stolen.
The possessive comes after the last person’s name only. This usage tells readers that Jim and Allison had joint ownership of the cars.
But maybe Jim and Allison were neighbors, and a rash of car thefts had taken place on their block. The sentence would then be punctuated this way:
Jim’s and Allison’s cars were stolen.
The possessive comes after both names. This tells readers that Jim and Allison had separate ownership of the cars.
Take another look at the store signs mentioned at the beginning of this section that incorrectly used an apostrophe:
Special price’s this week!
Rent two movie’s today!
Five can’s for $4.00!
The words that have apostrophes are just plain plurals; they don’t show ownership in any way and so don’t need apostrophes. (If you’re unsure about whether you should use an apostrophe, ask yourself if the word in question owns or possesses anything.)
Also, if you have proverbial expressions that involve individual letters or combinations of letters, use apostrophes to show their plurals.
Dot your i’s and cross your t’s.
In these examples, some style academic or company guides dictate that you shouldn’t italicize the letter you’re making plural; other guides take the opposite view. Be sure to consult the guide suggested by your instructor or company.
Another time that you should use an apostrophe to form a plural is if your reader would be confused by reading an -s alone (for instance, when an -s is added to an individual letter or letter combination or to numbers used as nouns).
s’s (instead of ss)
Write 7’s (instead of 7s) in the graph.
Capital letters used as words, however, just take an -s without an apostrophe for their plural form:
My grandfather only learned the three Rs when he attended school.
Susie was happy she received all As on her report card.