Apostrophes Examples

Free grammar tips, lessons and tests			Recommended purchases
This site: Grammar Monster on line	Daily tips with Grammar Monster's gadget	Daily tips with Grammar Monster on Twitter	The best grammar reference books	Grammar Monster off line	The only grammar checker we'll endorse
Common grammar errors Easily confused words Grammar terms & definitions Grammar tests Grammar lessons Search this site

Apostrophes - Glossary of Terms

Apostrophes

Apostrophes (') are used to replace missing letters, to create the possessive forms of nouns and to create temporal expressions (e.g. 2 years' tax). Exercised with care, they can also be used for the plural forms of abbreviations, letters and numbers.

Examples:

cannot > can't (replacing missing letters)

Alan's car (possessive form of the noun "Alan")

a minute's silence (temporal expression)

SOS's, 7's, A's (plural of SOS, 7 and A)

The apostrophe causes more grammar errors than any other punctuation mark. This is because the rules governing the use of apostrophes are quite complex.

Associated pages:

The apostrophe error with plurals
Apostrophes in time (temporal) expressions
Apostrophes replace letters
Apostrophes to show the plural of abbreviations
Apostrophes show possession
Glossary of grammatical terms