Written English 1: The Apostrophe

The apostrophe seems to be one of the hardest punctuation marks to get right. I’ve seen it used incorrectly all over the Internet and on public signposting. The thing that’s most surprising however, is when it’s incorrectly written in official letters. It is useful to understand that as long as you “get” the apostrophe, you’ll find that it is not as difficult as you once thought. These tutorials are by no means definitive, all-inclusive guides. They are meant to briefly instruct on the areas of language most often used for every-day writing. When is an apostrophe needed? 1. As a Contraction This is when it’s used to show that a letter has been omitted. For instance in the above sentence, ‘This is when it’s used to show that a letter has been omitted.’ This sentence could be written thus, ‘This is when it is used to show that a letter has been omitted.’ It’s is a contraction because the two words are used as one. The apostrophe is therefore placed between “t” and “s” because the letter “i” was omitted. In contrast, its in ‘The cat licked its paw,’ is never written with an apostrophe because it is NOT a contraction, but a pronoun (like her, his etc). Other contractions are don’t (do not), can’t (cannot) doesn’t (does not) I’m (I am) you’re (you are) etc. The best way to know if you’re using contractions correctly when you write is to say the words out loud. Here I’ve said out loud ‘you are’ so I am certain that “you” and “are” are two separate words. If I am therefore going to put them together, I’ll need an apostrophe where I’m leaving out the “a.” Keep in mind that contractions are mainly used for speech and informal writing. Don’t use them in CVs and other important documents. 2. To Show Ownership To show ownership, simply add an apostrophe then an “s.” The boy’s pencils, indicates the pencils that belong to the boy. My friend’s car, means the car which belongs to my friend. My daughter’s toys, tells us that the toys belong to my daughter. Now for the tricky bit: What do you do when you want to show ownership for lots of people? Say in the first sentence, that the pencils did not belong to one boy, but to three of them. You would write the sentence the same as above: ‘The boys pencils,’ then decide who the pencils belong to. In this case, they belong to three boys, so the apostrophe goes after the “s” to make the sentence look like this: The boys’ pencils – the pencils which belong to more than one boy. Or My friends’ car – the car which belongs to the brothers who are my friends. My daughters’ toys- toys belonging to my two daughters. And suppose the owner’s name already ends in “s.” When this is the case, the extra “s” is not needed. So using our sentences again, you would write: Charles’ pencils – the pencils belonging to Charles. James’ car – the car belonging to James. Rhys’ toys – the toys belonging to Rhys. For irregular nouns that do not take “s” for their plurals like “child,” “man” and “woman.” This is not difficult, it just needs a bit more thought. However, when you get it, you’ll wonder why you found it hard to begin with. Say the pencils were owned not by three boys, but by two girls and one boy – the children. How do we write this? The “pencils belonging to the children” becomes, “The children’s pencils.” (Note that the “s” does not go after the “n” because there is no such word as “childrens.” The apostrophised word always has to make sense). The car belonging to two men becomes, “The men’s car.” As we said before, just add an apostrophe then add “s.” 3. Apostrophes Are Not Used For the Following: Plurals Plurals are just more than one of a particular item. So “bag’s for sale” (a sign I saw on the front of a shop) was incorrect. Apostrophes are not needed just because a word ends in “s” or is a plural form of a noun. Abbreviations Words like CDs DVDs CVs, etc., are all abbreviations which is why they’re written in capital letters. Putting an “s” after the letters simply implies that you mean lots of them (plural). It does not mean that they are contractions, therefore they do not need apostrophes. The 1900s or the 90s are other written examples of where an “s” is used to denote plurality and does not need an apostrophe. The Pronoun “its” For instance – the dog is chasing her tail is the same (in this case) as the dog is chasing its tail. No apostrophe is needed for “her,” so no apostrophe is needed for “its.” (If you did apostrophise its, it would be like putting an apostrophe on her). Your sentence would then read, ‘The dog is chasing it is tail.’ Here are 6 sentences for you to correct. One of them needs no correction. The answers are at the end for you to check how you did. I cleared out my house last week and got rid of some of my DVD’s. I only kept the ones’ I bought last year as theyv’e got the tunes I listen to most. He slept in his childrens’ bedroom because they were away at camp. The lion had caught a small stone in its paw, and it had to be drugged to enable its keeper to get it out. Her bag’s and shoes all got wet because of the flood which hit her village during last nights storm. The boys’ bike was broken, so he asked his Dad to fix it. My sister does’nt think she can make it tonight. Shes’ got to work instead. Answers: I cleared out my house last week and got rid of some of my DVDs. I only kept the ones I bought last year as they’ve got the tunes I listen to most. (3 mistakes) He slept in his children’s bedroom because they were away at camp. (1 mistake) The lion had caught a small stone in its paw, and it had to be drugged to enable its keeper to get it out. (Correct) Her bags and shoes all got wet because of the flood which hit her village during last night’s storm. (2 mistakes) The boy’s bike was broken, so he asked his Dad to fix it. (1 mistake). My sister doesn’t think she can make it tonight. She’s got to work instead. (2 mistakes).