Join In
Twitter
YouTube
Weekly Newsletter
Libraries
A-Z Grammatical Terms
A-Z Confused Words
A-Z Awkward Plurals
Punctuation Lessons
Common Mistakes
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser
(ordered by seriousness) ESL Vocabulary Lists Parts of Speech Lists A-Z Idioms and Proverbs Tests and Games Top Tip Install a grammar checker
for your browser
Apostrophes
This Page Includes...
What Are Apostrophes?
An apostrophe (') is a punctuation mark used:- To replace a missing letter(s). For example:
- cannot > can't
- do not > don't
- To show the possessive form of a noun. For example:
- dinner of the dog > dog's dinner
- shoes for women > women's shoes
- To create time expressions. For example:
- pay for day > a day's pay
- holiday for a week > a week's holiday
- To show an awkward plural. For example:
- You use the word "and" too much > You use too many and's
- There are two "m"s in accommodation > There are two M's in accommodation (This is not popular!)
How Apostrophes Are Used
Here is an overview on how apostrophes are used:(1) To replace missing letters.
- can't (The apostrophe replaces "no" in "cannot.")
- isn't (The apostrophe replaces "o" in "is not.")
- don't (The apostrophe replaces "o" in "do not.")
(2) To create the possessive form of a noun.
- The fire fighters' code
- Women's rights
- The dog's dinner (one dog, one dinner)
- The dogs' dinners (several dogs, several dinners)
- The dogs' dinner (several dogs, one dinner)
(3) To create a temporal expression.
- 2 years' tax
- a day's pay
- 4 days' pay
(4) To form an awkward plural.
- There are two a's in accommodation.
- There are three I's in your sentence.
- There are five consecutive and's in this sentence: I would like wider spacing between "Rose" and "and" and "and" and "Crown".
Other Punctuation Marks
Here is a slider with lessons to the other punctuation marks:Here is the biggest error related to apostrophes:
(Serious Error) Don't use an apostrophe just because your word ends "s."
Do not be tempted to put an apostrophe in a word just because it ends in "s." For example:- Anteater's prefer termite's to ant's.
- Anteaters prefer termites to ants.
- Time flie's like an arrow. Fruit fly's like a banana.
- Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
- Don't use an apostrophe just because your word ends "s." Stick to the rules!
Help Us Improve Grammar Monster
- Do you disagree with something on this page?
- Did you spot a typo?
Find Us Quicker!
- When using a search engine (e.g., Google, Bing), you will find Grammar Monster quicker if you add #gm to your search term.
See Also
Take a test on apostrophes Much more about using apostrophes What is punctuation? What are apostrophes?What are colons? What are commas? What are dashes? What is ellipsis? What are exclamation marks? What are hyphens? What is a full stop / period? What are parentheses (i.e., brackets)? What are questions marks? What are quotation marks? What are semicolons? Glossary of grammatical terms "Apostrophes for possession" game (Tetris-style game) "Apostrophes in time expressions" game (Tetris-style game)