Do You Know The Apostrophe Basics?

In elementary school, I distinctly remember doing numerous worksheets on the possessive -s. There would be a list of words or short phrases that we had to turn into the possessive. For example, it might say “dog” and we had to write “dog’s” and then use that word in a sentence: The dog’s snack is tasty.

Later, we would learn that you can create contractions by combining words and using a little mark to show where some of the letters were left out. The worksheet had “it is” and we had to make “it’s”. 

The thing that I don’t really remember anyone talking about was the fact that the possessive -s and contractions were both formed using the same symbol—the apostrophe. And it wasn’t until I was older and writing about language that I realized apostrophes could have other functions and that the simple grade school rules are actually a bit more complex.

The Possessive

The singular possessive is pretty easy. “The dog’s toy” or “the cat’s favorite spot” is just adding an apostrophe plus -s to the end of a singular noun. Did you remember, though, that if a noun ends in -s and the word that follows it also ends in -s that you need to use only the apostrophe? 

Ex. The actress’ script

The plural form of most possessives is formed by adding the apostrophe after the -s.

Ex. The roots’ path

If two or more nouns share a possession, you only add the apostrophe -s after the second person.

Ex. Fred and Cathy’s beach house

But if you’re talking about two people who each possess different things, then you use the apostrophe -s after both.

Ex. Jordan’s and Nick’s colleges (Jordan and Nick go to different colleges)

Contractions

In a contraction, an apostrophe suggests that something is missing. To combine “would have”, you would write “would’ve” with the apostrophe indicating that the “ha-” in “have” has been eliminated. 

Odds and Ends

Names

A person’s name ending in -s like “Jess” may take an apostrophe -s in some styles or only an apostrophe in others. 

Ex. Jess’ garden -or- Jess’s garden (Both are correct)

Silent -S

If the final -s of a word is silent, use the apostrophe to show possession. 

Ex. Illinois’ capital is Springfield.

Omitted Characters

To show that a number or letter is missing from a word or phrase, you can use an apostrophe. 

Ex. The musical Singin’ in the Rain uses the apostrophe to show that the -g is missing from the end of “Singing”.

You can also do this with numbers. 

Ex. I graduated high school with the class of ‘08.

How about you?

Have you ever struggled with apostrophe placement? Hopefully this review of apostrophe basics will help you out!

Dayna Betz is a full-time freelancer providing proofreading and editing services to help writers put their best foot forward. She also enjoys reading and writing book reviews. Head over to her site to learn more: https://betzliterary.com.