Your email address will not be published. English Language Help Desk. Skip to content. How to use the apostrophe By Marina Pantcheva The apostrophe has two functions: it marks possession, and it is used in contractions to indicate the place where the letters have been omitted. That book is Bob ' s Bob apostrophe s. Compare contractions versus possessive pronouns here: They ' re t h e y apostrophe r e hoping to increase their budget.
You ' re y o u apostrophe r e having trouble with your car. Example: Sophocles ' Sophocles apostrophe house, NOT Sophocles ' s Sophocles apostrophe s house Several bosses ' b o s s e s apostrophe houses, NOT several bosses ' s b o s s e s apostrophe s houses Note: Some grammar textbooks recommend keeping the "s ' s" s apostrophe s or "ss ' s" s s apostrophe s ending for singular words or for names ending in "s" or an "s" sound because this spelling allows for easier pronunciation.
Examples: James ' s J a m e s apostrophe s party, Marx ' s M a r x apostrophe s teachings, the boss ' s b o s s apostrophe s house, the class ' s c l a s s apostrophe s work, and congress ' s c o n g r e s s apostrophe s motion. Do not use an apostrophe with pronouns to show possession The exception to the possessive rule is that pronouns show possession without the use of apostrophes e. That book is Chen ' s Chen apostrophe s.
Or also correct, with contraction written in its full form: It is almost time to give the cat its medication. Examples Incorrect: Several students ' s t u d e n t s apostrophe went to the meeting. An apostrophe can be used to show that letters or numbers have been omitted. Here are some examples of apostrophes that indicate missing letters:. It also shows that numbers have been omitted, especially in dates, e.
These two words can cause a lot of confusion: many people are uncertain about whether or not to use an apostrophe. These are the rules to remember:. Each case is judged on its own merits. The general rule is that you should not use an apostrophe to form the plurals of nouns, abbreviations, or dates made up of numbers: just add -s or -es , if the noun in question forms its plural with -es.
For example:. There are one or two cases in which it is acceptable to use an apostrophe to form a plural, purely for the sake of clarity:. These are the only cases in which it is generally considered acceptable to use an apostrophe to form plurals: remember that an apostrophe should never be used to form the plural of ordinary nouns, names, abbreviations, or numerical dates.
Thomas's brother was injured in the accident. For this last example, the trend is to instead write yeses and noes. The general rule is that the possessive of a singular noun is formed by adding an apostrophe and s , whether the singular noun ends in s or not. The possessive of a plural noun is formed by adding only an apostrophe when the noun ends in s , and by adding both an apostrophe and s when it ends in a letter other than s.
Nouns that end in an s sound take only an apostrophe when they are followed by sake.
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