Apostrophes

What is an Apostrophe?

An apostrophe is a punctuation mark (‘) that appears as part of a word to show possession, to make a plural number or to indicate the omission of one or more letters.

Three Uses of Apostrophes:

In most cases an apostrophe is used to show possession. In such cases, one noun will always be followed by another noun, i.e., the one it possesses.

Ex: Gloria's hat…
Ex: Chase's red car…

1. To Show Possession:
    Singular and Plural Nouns

• To make a singular noun that does not end in "s" possessive, add an apostrophe and an "s"
      Ex: The cat's master loves his cat.
• To make a plural noun that does not end in "s" possessive, add an apostrophe and an "s"
       Ex: The men's restroom is closed for repairs.

Nouns Ending in "S

• To make a singular noun ending in "s" possessive, add an apostrophe and an "s"
        Ex: John Keats's death inspired Shelley's famous elegy, "Adonais."
  
  
• If a singular noun ends with an "s" and contains an additional "s" sound elsewhere in the noun, add only the apostrophe to make the noun possessive.
          Ex: Jesus' birth in a stable symbolizes the close relationship between man and nature.
  
  
• To make a plural noun ending in "s" possessive, add only an apostrophe        
          Ex: The cats' master loves his cats.

Compound Words or Group Words

• To make compound words or a group of words possessive, add an apostrophe and an "s" to only the last word.
       Ex: Singular: The chairman of the board's decision was final.
       Ex: Plural: The daughters-in-law's children argue about everything.

Separate and Joint Possession

• To make two nouns show separate possession, add an apostrophe and an "s" after each possessive noun.
        Ex: Kari's and Lynn's bikes are in excellent condition.
               (They each have a bike.)
  
  
• To make two nouns show joint possession, add an apostrophe only to the second unit.
      Ex: Cameron and Mitch's car broke down last week.
               (They share a car.)

2. To Make Plural:
    Time and Money

• To make units of time and money plural, apply possession rules for singular and plural nouns.

Word Plurals

• To make words used as a plural, add an apostrophe and an "s"

To Indicate Omission:
Contractions

• To form contractions, use an apostrophe in place of the omitted letters.

There are three main uses for the apostrophe: to show possession, to make a plural number or to indicate omitted letters.