What is the purpose of this troublesome and often misused punctuation mark? The apostrophe has two purposes: to show possession and to indicate missing letters. In certain instances, it is also used to clear up confusion when making plurals.
Photo taken in Matakohe, New Zealand.
The photo to the right made me cringe, and it shows that apostrophe misuse is worldwide. I leave it up to you to correct the many mistakes in the picture, and there are more mistakes than just the misuse of apostrophes.
One use of the apostrophe is to show possession.
If the book belongs to Myrtle, then it is Myrtle’s book.
If the coat belongs to Amanda, then it is Amanda’s coat.
Use an apostrophe when the noun that should follow is implied.
The hat on the chair is Ray’s.
The CD is Jared’s.
If you want to show plural possession, you must first make the noun plural then add the apostrophe.
the Binions’ daughter
the dogs’ toys
the children’s books
An apostrophe is not used to show the plural of a name.
The Smiths are making their yearly trip to the beach.
The Grafs now live in Wisconsin.
An ’s is used when making a singular compound noun possessive.
My brother-in-law’s garden has been invaded by deer.
Her mother-in-law’s advice is usually not taken seriously.
An ’s is also used when your compound noun is plural.
My brothers-in-law’s gardens have been invaded by deer.
Mothers-in-law’s advice is unwelcome when it hasn’t been asked for.
If the dog belongs to Jack and Rita, then it is Jack and Rita’s dog. This says that the dog belongs to both Jack and Rita.
If Jack and Rita each have their own dogs, then it should be Jack’s and Rita’s dogs.
The following possessive pronouns already show possession, so they do not require an apostrophe: his, hers, its, theirs, ours, yours, whose.
Apostrophes are used to indicate a missing letter(s). The apostrophe is placed exactly where the letter(s) is missing.
isn’t is short for is not.
can’t is short for can not
don’t is short of do not
So that means that it’s is the contraction for it is or it has. The possessive form of this particular word is its.
Apostrophes are not used when making the plurals for capital letters and numbers used as nouns.
Her consultations with four different OB/GYNs proved to be disappointing.
She went to four different OB/GYNs’ offices.
Ajalon and Kayla were sent back to the 1800s.
The 1800’s clothing styles were a shock to them.
If the first two digits of the year are left off, then you would need an apostrophe.
’90s
’70s
Apostrophes are used with letters if they are needed to make things clear.
You always need to dot your i’s.
She always had points marked off her papers because she always forgot to cross her t’s.
Would anyone like to try and correct the sign at the beginning of the article? If so, feel free to post your corrections in the comments.
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