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Apostrophe Placement Rules
Apostrophe Placement Rules
You can use an apostrophe and the letter s to show possession. For example:- The dog's kennel
- The dogs' kennel
The rules for placement of apostrophes are simple, but there are some exceptions. The general rule is if the possessor is singular, put the apostrophe before the "s." If the possessor is plural, put the apostrophe after the "s."
Table of Contents
- Are You Good at Apostrophe Placement?
- Where Do You Place the Apostrophe?
- With a Singular Possessor, Place the Apostrophe before the S
- With a Plural Possessor, Place the Apostrophe after the S
- An Exception (Plural Nouns Not Ending S)
- Another Exception (Singular Nouns Ending S)
- Another Exception (The Possessive Form of Compound Nouns)
- A Quirk (Apostrophes with Joint and Individual Ownership)
- The History of the Apostrophe for Ownership
- Printable Test

Are You Good at Apostrophe Placement?
Here's a quick test.Where Do You Place the Apostrophe?
When using an apostrophe for possession, the first thing to think about is whether the possessor is singular or plural. This is important because it determines where the apostrophe is placed. Here are some examples with the possessors highlighted:- The seagull's wings.
- The seagulls' wings.
With a Singular Possessor, Place the Apostrophe before the S
When the possessor is singular, add 's.For example:
- Wagner's music is better than it sounds.
(Mark Twain)
- A friend's eye is a good mirror.
With a Plural Possessor, Place the Apostrophe after the S
When the possessor is plural, add ' after the s. For example:- The dogs' dinner smells better than ours.
- The ladies' mobile phones were confiscated until after the show.
An Exception (Plural Nouns Not Ending S)
For plural words not ending s (e.g., men, people, children), add 's(like they were singular). For example:- Zeus does not bring all men's plans to fulfilment.
(Homer, 800-700 BC)
- All television is children's television.
(Richard P. Adler)
Another Exception (Singular Nouns Ending S)
For singular words ending s (e.g., Wales, Wells, Jesus), you have a choice. You can add ' or 's. The general rule is write it how you would pronounce it. For example:- Jones's briefing was excellent.
- Jones' briefing was excellent.
Another Exception (The Possessive Form of Compound Nouns)
With compound nouns (e.g., father-in-law), add 's to the end. It does not matter is the compound noun is singular or plural. For example:- Her sister-in-law's motive was financial.
- Her sisters-in-law's motive was financial.
A Quirk (Apostrophes with Joint and Individual Ownership)
With joint ownership, make the last word in the series possessive. With individual ownership, make both parts possessive (or all parts if there are more than two). For example:- Jack and Simon's cars
- Jack's and Simon's cars
(Note: It will be assumed that Jack has one car and Simon has one car. If this is not the case, then another construction is required. "Jack's cars and Simon's cars" is one option.)
The History of the Apostrophe for Ownership
The principal function of an apostrophe is to replace a missing letter (e.g., "don't," "isn't"). This is related to why apostrophes are used for ownership.In old English, ownership was shown by adding es to the possessor regardless of whether the possessor was singular or plural. For example:
- cates dinner (for one cat)
- catses dinner (for several cats)
- manes dinner (for one man)
- menes dinner (for several men)
- Moseses dinner (for Moses)
This process still works for everything. There are no exceptions.
(Step 1). Identify the possessor. For example:
- cat
- cats
- man
- men
- Moses
- cates
- catses
- manes
- menes
- Moseses
- cat's
- cats's
- man's
- men's
- Moses's
- cat's
- cats'
- man's
- men's
- Moses'
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