10th Literature Language Practice # 3 Name: ______
APOSTROPHES
Familiarize yourself with the most common uses of the apostrophe.
Use of Apostrophe / ExampleTo show a letter is missing in a contraction / The response hasn’t been that bad.
(The apostrophe signals o is missing.)
To show part of the date is missing / Color TV came in the ‘50s or ‘60s.
(The apostrophe signals 19 is missing.)
To form the plural of some letters, words, numbers, and symbols / Ah’s and oh’s could be heard in class when the teacher announced there were only two A’s and two B’s.
To show possession with singular and plural nouns / The band’s sound was legendary.
Jonas’s novel was about three brothers.
The band members’ talent was obvious.
To show possession with plural nouns not ending in s / The women’s section was upstairs.
To show joint possession / Allie, Liz, and Ben’s performance was best.
(joint performance of all three people)
To show possession with indefinite pronouns / Somebody’s keys are on the floor.
Try it: Rewrite the underlined part using an apostrophe.
1. The best musical of Rodgers and Hammerstein was The Sound of Music.
2. I have not seen all of their musicals.
3. They became well known in the 1940s and 1950s.
4. The reaction of the audience to their work was stupendous.
5. The first musical partner of Rodgers was Lorenz Hart.
6. After Rodgers and Hammerstein became partners, their first hit Oklahoma did not feature big stars.
7. The performance in The King and I by Yul Brenner won him an Oscar.
8. The opinion of everybody who has seen The Sound of Music is favorable.
9. The story of the musical revolves around the tense political situation of the family of Captain Von Trapp.
10. The best songs of the musical are “Edelweiss” and “My Favorite Things.”
Identify the sentence error. If an underlined word or phrase contains a grammatical error, choose the part that must be changed to correct the sentence.
11. The musicals’ (A) plot wasn’t (B) hard (C) to follow and hasn’t (D) been told before. No error(E).
12. Both (A) Jake and I (B) forgot the girls (C) names (D). No error(E).
13. After you have written (A) a definition in your vocabulary notebook, add afew (B) ways to use the wordor (C) a sentence to illustrateit's (D) meaning.No error(E).
Improve the sentence. Select the answer choice that best expresses the meaning of the underlined portion of the original sentence.
14. Elvis’s music and Broadways musicals dominated entertainment in the 1950s.
a. Elvis’s music and Broadways musicals
b. Elvis’ music and Broadway’s musicals
c. Elvis’ music and Broadways musicals
d. Elvis’s music and Broadway’s musicals
e. Elvis’s music and Broadways’s musicals
In each of the following exercises, (1) use at least one current vocabulary word per sentence; (2) relate each sentence to our current unit of study; (3) use proper punctuation.
15. Write a simple sentence that uses an apostrophe to show a letter is missing in a contraction.
16. Write a compound sentence that uses an apostrophe to show possession with a plural noun.
17. Write a compound sentence that uses an apostrophe to show possession with a plural noun not ending in s.
18. Write a compound-complex sentence that uses an apostrophe to show joint possession.
19. Write a complex sentence that uses an apostrophe to show part of a date is missing.
20. Write a compound sentence joined by a semi-colon that uses an apostrophe to form the plural of a group of letters.