English grammar lesson

Apostrophes

Links

Grammar Lessons Home
Grammar Tests Home
Grammar Chat Forum
About This Site
FAQs
Contact Us
Grammar Entertainment

Download

Download off-line version

for your own desktop reference tool.

[more details...]

Apostrophes can replace missing letters.

1. An apostrophe can be used to replace a letter (or letters):

Examples:
The weather's bad. (In full: weather is)
Don't think about it. (In full: Do not)
[picture]

Alan can't deliver on Tuesdays. (In full: cannot)
Dawn could've left earlier. (In full: could have)
They know it's not appropriate. (In full: it is)
Sally is'nt able to complete her work. (In full: is not) (should be: isn't )
It's been raining all day. ^{(Mini Test)}

WRITE THEM OUT IN FULL

In business writing, you should not use apostrophes to replace letters. You should write all words in their full forms.

Therefore, the delivery date can't be met.

(use "cannot"

)

It's available for collection on Tuesday.

( use "It is"

)

CONTRACTIONS

Words with apostrophes which replace letters are known as "contractions". It is unusual to create new contractions, and you should only use recognised ones:

g'tar

(replacing the "ui" in guitar)

potato's

(replacing the "e" in potatoes)

2. Common errors related to this subject:

YOU'RE & YOUR

"You're" is short for "you are".

You're a naughty boy.

"Your" is not short for "you are". It is used to show
possession.

This is your PC.

	[picture]

This is you're PC.

Your a star. ^{(Mini Test)}

IT'S AND ITS

"It's" is short for "it has" or "it is". (There are no other uses.)

It's stopped raining, and it's sunny.

"Its", on the other hand, is similar to "his" and "her" and is used to show possession.

I'm near the whale. I can see its tail.

This is it's fourth journey.

(its

)

Its as easy as falling off a log. ^{(Mini Test)}

NOT SHOULD OF

"Should've" sounds like "should of", but it is short for "should have". (This is the same for "could've" and "would've".)

should of

, could of

, would of

	[picture]

ONE WORD

"Cannot" is one word.

I can not stand in the rain for too long.

	[picture]

Although rare, it is possible to see "can" and "not" as two separate words. However, this is never an expansion of "can't".

She can not only sing but dance too.

NO APOSTROPHE

Words like "ours", "theirs", "yours" and "hers" do not have apostrophes in them.

These books are ours.

You can use our's.

I saw theirs'. ^{(Mini Test)}

Top

Apostrophes are used to show possession; for example: "the dog's bone".

1. An apostrophe and the letter "s" are often used to show possession. For example: "the boy's house".

Examples:

Take the girl's hand and place it on the cushion.

(hand belonging to the girl)

I had to remove Jane's label and replace it.

(label belonging to Jane)

Leave the mouse's dinner alone. ^{(Mini Test)}

2. In the examples above, each apostrophe appears before the letter "s". However, it is possible for the apostrophe to appear after the letter "s" too. This happens when more than one person (or thing) owns the object (or objects).

Examples:

The horses' hay is damp.

(hay belonging to the horses; note: more than one horse - apostrophe after the s)

The ladies' toilets are out of bounds.

(toilets belonging to the ladies; note: more than one lady - apostrophe after the s)

The fairies' wings glistened in the moonlight. ^{(Mini Test)}

BEFORE OR AFTER THE S?

Therefore, when showing possession, the rules are:
To show singular possession - apostrophe before the "s"

the cat's dinner

(one cat)

the cat's dinners

(one cat)

To show plural possession - apostrophe after the "s"

the cats' dinner

(more than one cat)

the cats' dinners

(more than one cat)

3.   Mistakes with apostrophes are very common. One reason for this is the number of exceptions to the rules above. For example, plural words which do not end in the letter "s" (e.g. "men", "people" and "children") have the apostrophe before the "s" when showing possession.

Examples:
He is the people's poet.
Leave the children's presents in the hall until they have gone to bed.
My watch was stolen from the mens' changing room. ^{(Mini Test)}

4.   To make things even more complicated, singular words which end in "s" (e.g. "Charles", "Wales", "Paris" and "Dickens") can end in just an apostrophe or 's when showing possession.

Examples:
It is Charles' birthday. It is Charles's birthday. (both correct)
I have not seen Wales' new stadium. (or Wales's )
[picture 1] [picture 2]

5.    Both "Charles' birthday" and "Charles's birthday" are grammatically correct. However, as a guideline, you should use the version which best matches how you would pronounce it. In other words, use Charles's if you pronounce it "Charlesiz", but use Charles' if you pronounce it "Charles".

More examples:
Dr Evans' report (for those who pronounce it "Dr Evans report")
Dr Evans's report (for those who pronounce it "Dr Evansiz report")
Miss Williams' victory (for those who pronounce it "Miss Williams victory")
Miss Williams's victory (for those who pronounce it "Miss Williamsiz victory")
IT Solutions' conference (for those who pronounce it "IT Solutions conference")
      (where "IT Solutions" is considered as singular)
IT Solutions's conference (for those who pronounce it "IT Solutionsiz
       conference")

NO APOSTROPHE IN THE WORD ITSELF

An apostrophe that shows possession never appears inside the word itself.

Dicken's novel

(the word is "Dickens")

The ladie's coats

(the word is "ladies")

the cat's dinner

(when referring to "cats". Note: For one "cat"
this would be correct.)

6. Here is another quirk. Some compound nouns (e.g. sister-in-law) do not form their plurals by adding s to the end (e.g. sisters-in-law). With a noun like this, the possessive form is created by adding 's to the end, regardless of whether it is singular or plural.

For example:

Singular	Plural
sister-in-law's pond	sisters-in-law's husbands
colonel-in-chief's arrival	colonels-in-chief's meeting
maid of honour's bouquet	maids of honour's dresses

7. Finally, joint ownership is shown by making the last word in the series possessive; whereas, individual ownership is shown by making both (or all) parts possessive.

For example:

Andrew and Jacob's factory...
(joint ownership)
(note: only the last part is possessive)

Andrew's and Jacob's factories...
      (individual ownership)
      (note: both parts are possessive)
      (Without context, it will be assumed that Andrew has one factory and Jacob has
       one factory. Another construction is required if this is not the case: "Andrew's
       factories and Jacob's factories" is one option.)

India and Pakistan's problems...
(common to both)

India's and Pakistan's problems...
(separate problems)

Top

Apostrophes are used in time expressions such as
2 days' leave.

1. Apostrophes are used in time expressions such as "3 years' insurance" (also called "temporal expressions"). In a temporal expression, the apostrophe is positioned before the "s" for single units of time and after for multiple units of time.

Examples:

Alan was given one day's notice.

(one day - apostrophe before the s)

That is the equivalent of one year's pay.

(one year - apostrophe before the s)

My car came with a years' free insurance.

(one year - apostrophe should be before the s)

There is six months' interest-free credit on all sofas.

(six months - apostrophe after the s)

	[picture] [picture] [picture]

Applicants should have at least 3 year's experience. ^{(Mini Test)}

APOSTROPHE COULD REPLACE THE WORD "OF"

The following do not have any apostrophes in them:

I lived in Africa for 3 years.

She has six months left to run on her loan.

This point causes great confusion. As a rule, you should only use an apostrophe in an expression where the word "of" might have been used instead.

six months' insurance

(six months of insurance)

a day's leave

(a day of leave)

She has six months' left to run on her loan.

(She has six
months of left to run on her loan.) < nonsense

IT'S NOT ALL ABOUT TIME

The vast majority of these expressions are time expressions, but some relate to value and distance too:

10 pounds' worth of potatoes and 1 pound's worth of onions

a stone's throw away

Top

An apostrophe can be used to show the plural of an abbreviation. (Read this section carefully.)

1. The plurals of abbreviations, letters and numbers can be written using apostrophes. For example:

He sent 3 SOS's between midnight and 6 a.m.

There are two a's in accommodation.

Your 2's look like your 7's.

1000's of bargains

AVOID USING AN APOSTROPHE

Some grammar books (not all) claim that apostrophes cannot be used in any plurals. This is considered an outdated view by many. In the 4 examples above, the apostrophes assist the reader and are acceptable. However, the plural of a normal-looking abbreviation should be shown by adding a small "s" without an apostrophe.

2.    The advantage of using an apostrophe is that the abbreviation or letter is instantly recognisable. However, as covered in Section 2 above, apostrophes can also be used for possession. Therefore, when apostrophes are used to show plurals, it can lead to ambiguity.

Example:
MP's plan failure
      (Is this about:
                         - ministers planning to fail, or
                         - the failure of a minister's plan?)

3.    Do not use apostrophes for the plurals of normal abbreviations.

Examples:
M.O.T.'s (M.O.T.s )
      (MOT - Ministry of Transport / also "Ministry of Transport test")
MOT's (MOTs )
       Note: It is often the writer's choice whether to use full stops in abbreviations.
       (See lesson "Abbreviations".)
He had 4 CCJ's against him. ( He had 4 CCJs against him. )
      (CCJ - County Court Judgement)

Top

Do not be tempted to use an apostrophe just because a word ends in "s".

1.   The rules about when to use apostrophes are explained in Sections 1-4 above. In summary, they are:

      a.   To replace missing letters (e.g. aren't).
      b.   To show possession (e.g. Sarah's jumper).
      c.   In expressions such as "3 months' wages".
      d.   In the plurals of abbreviations, letters and numbers (e.g. 6's and 7's).

2.    Unless it is covered by one of the categories above, an apostrophe should not be used. However, words that end in the letter "s" seem to attract apostrophes. The plural of words ending in vowels (e.g. video, patio) are extremely prone to this error. This is a very common mistake and is considered a grammatical howler.

Hire two video's for �3.

(videos

)

Three large male lion's approached the 4x4.

(lions

)

	[picture 1] [picture 2]

Snow White and the Seven Dwarf's.

(Dwarfs

)

Their board genuinely stated: "Open seven day's a week and weekend's".
(days

/ weekends

)

She fly's to New York regularly.

(flies

)

There are 24 applicant's waiting in the coffee room. ^{(Mini Test)}