The Apostrophe
…is used to show possession or ownership as well as to indicate omitted letters and numerals.
A. Possession
1. Add an ‘s to form the possessive of singular and plural nouns and indefinite pronouns that do not end in s or with an s or z sound.
Kari’s house the child’s toy
Somebody’s shoe the children’s toy
2. Add ‘s to form the possessive of singular nouns ending in s or with an s or z sound.
Chris’s binder Prince Lorenz’s castle
The boss’s decision princess’s tiara
*Add only an apostrophe if the extra s creates awkward pronunciation
Euripides’ plays Moses’ gospel
3. Add only an apostrophe to form the possessive of plural nouns ending in s or with an s or z sound.
The boys’ coats The Smiths’ car
The students’ answers the runners’ speeds
4. To form the possessive of compound nouns, add ‘s to only the last word.
My brother-in-law’s foot my sergeant-at-arm’s command
5. To show joint ownership, make only the last noun possessive.
Jerry and Tom’s practical joke. (They share the joke.)
Jerry’s and Tom’s practical jokes. (They each have their own joke.)
B. Omitted letters or numbers in contractions
I am = I’m can not = can’t ham ‘n eggs the hurricane of ‘05
C. Plural of letters, numbers, abbreviations, and words cited as words.
Watch your p’s and q’s. There are three ATM’s in the mall.
Count to 1000 by 10’s. I’ve had enough of your no’s for today.
I received 5 A’s and 2 B’s.
Shorthand version of the possession rules.
The cat’s toy one cat, one toy
The cat’s toys one cat, many toys
The cats’ toy many cats, one toy
The cats’ toys many cats, many toys
Apostrophes Put Into Practice
Directions: Put apostrophes wherever appropriate in each of the sentences below.
1. Its difficult to know whos at fault sometimes.
2. Cathys hat was left behind at Staceys house.
3. Your binders organization is critical to your organization.
4. The cows hide was used to make Marks suede coat.
5. There are many pigs and chickens on the farm.
6. How many As did you get on your report card?
7. Im sorry to say that Ill be late for tomorrows test.
8. The womens and mens clubs in Kelowna are promoting civic duty.
9. Online versions of this manual are located in a separate folder.
10. Spring break is now a two-weeks vacation.
11. My sister-in-laws new wakeboard is from Deviate.
12. I wanted to buy a dollars worth of candy.
13. Port Renfrew is only six days hike from Port Alberni.
14. My boss decision to have rotating days off displeased all of us.
15. Its important to do your homework.
16. Dogs and their owners are responsible for good behavior.
17. Its anybodys guess if Teresa will arrive at six oclock.
18. In drama, students must perform exercises with their voices.
19. Jareds and Rudys wives went shopping together.
20. Adverbs are used to describe actions or verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs.
#7 Misusing the Apostrophe
The Problem: Its impossible for parents to understand childrens’ needs.
The Problem: The genie dosen’t want to tell Aladdin hed get three wish’s.
The most common use of the apostrophe is to demonstrate possession or ownership. The its/it’s error remains an irritant, so students need to understand that an apostrophe is never used with a possessive pronoun. For example, it is far less common for students to write something is our’s or their’s, so why put an apostrophe in its? Students should also remember just because a word has an s at the end does not necessarily mean that it requires an apostrophe.
The other most common use of the apostrophe is to indicate an omitted letter in a contraction. While students seem to use the apostrophe more consistently in contractions, they do tend to misspell does not quite often or simply omit an apostrophe altogether because they don’t use them in IM (Instant Messaging).
Solving the its/it’s error is easy if students simply say to themselves “it is” when they write it’s. It’s that simple! As well, students need practice in determining whether a word is plural or if there is some degree of ownership to be declared in the sentence. The apostrophe error can be rectified if students are reminded that they already know these rules and need to pay more attention. In effective exercises, there will be some activities that require students to determine whether an apostrophe is needed at all, not just where it should be placed.