The apostrophe (’) is one of the most widely used punctuation marks in the English language. Everyone who knows the language is sure to have used them extensively. Yet, situations often arise while writing, regarding the usage of apostrophes, that can cause much confusion, even in veteran writers.
How Are Apostrophes Used?
The two commonly known uses of apostrophes are – to indicate possession and in contractions. The following rules dictate the correct usage of apostrophes in various conditions that might arise under these situations.
1. To Indicate Possession
The possessive case of most nouns and pronouns includes the apostrophe. However, there are a few variations in the manner it is used based on the last letter of the word designating the owner and whether the owner is singular or plural.
– When the owner is denoted by a noun
- When the noun is singular, the apostrophe is added to the end of the word, followed by an s.
Owner + ’ + s
For instance:
Jay’s car
The girl’s books
The bird’s feather
- When the noun is plural and ends in an s, the apostrophe is simply added to the end of the word, with nothing else.
Owners + ’
For instance:
The houses’ roofs
The Ryders’ caravan
The horses’ hooves
- When the noun is plural but does not end in an s, the apostrophe is added to the end of the word, followed by an s.
Owners + ’ + s
For instance:
The children’s tea
The mice’s tails
The women’s coats
- The rules stated above are pretty straightforward. However, what leaves most writers (and readers) stumped is using the apostrophe with singular nouns ending in s. There is a lot of variation with regards to the question of whether one more s follows the apostrophe in such cases. For instance, is it the boss’s office or the boss’ office?
The answer to this question can be found in the writing style guide the writer is following. Such guides and other publications have their own established guidelines in the matter. And sometimes, the guidelines can be quite granular.
For instance, the AP (Associated Press) style guide differentiates between proper and generic nouns in this matter. The possessive cases of proper nouns do not carry the additional s after the apostrophe, while those of generic nouns do. Thus, according to the AP style, it would be: This is Ross’ boss’s chair. However, there is one exception – if the word denoting the possession (therefore, the word appearing after the apostrophe) begins with an s itself, even generic nouns do not carry the additional s. Hence, it would be: This is Ross’ boss’ stapler.
On the other hand, the Chicago Manual of Style steers clear of any differentiation and dictates that the additional s be added to the possessive form of any singular noun ending in an s itself, whether proper or generic. Thus, here, it would be: This is Ross’s boss’s chair, while that is his boss’s stapler.
Individual publishers may also have their own guidelines in this matter as well. Thus, there are no general norms in this case. What usage is regarded as the correct one depends on the guide being followed.
– When the owner is denoted by a pronoun
- Indefinite pronouns, such as anybody, nobody, and one, take on the apostrophe followed by an s to become possessive. For instance:
One should own up to one’s faults.
This is somebody’s garden.
I don’t have anybody’s book.
- Personal pronouns, do not take on apostrophes to show possession, as possessive pronouns already exist (mine, his, your, etc.).
Note: Using an apostrophe with a personal pronoun makes it a contraction, not its possessive case. Who’s is a contraction of who and is; the possessive pronoun is whose. Similarly, its is the possessive form of the third person neutral pronoun, while it’s is the contraction of it and is. Her’s and your’s are incorrect as well, though they appear frequently and thus cause some confusion. The right forms of the pronouns are hers and yours.
– Joint and separate ownerships
- When two or more individuals collectively own a single possession, the apostrophe is added to the last name on the list. For instance:
John and Steve’s restaurant is down the street.
Annie, Jeff, and Neil’s school starts next week.
- When two or more individuals separately own similar possessions, the apostrophe is added to each name on the list. For instance:
John’s and Steve’s restaurants are across the street from one another.
Annie’s, Jeff’s, and Neil’s schools do not offer the same extracurriculars.
2. In Contractions
Contractions are shortened versions of one or more than one words pushed together; here, apostrophes are placed in lieu of the removed letters, such as in don’t (do not), she’d (she would), y’all (you all), and can’t (cannot).
It can also replace the first two digits (1 and 9) when referring to years from the 20th century, as in ’20s for the 1920s or ’85 for 1985.
Besides contractions and possessions, apostrophes are also used in a few more places while writing.
3. When Pluralizing Letters
A common mistake when pluralizing nouns with the addition of an s is to place an apostrophe before it as in “Her trip’s to Scotland and Australia yielded many results.” Apostrophes should not be used in such a manner, and doing so leads to muddled communication.
There is, however, one exception to this rule. Apostrophes are used to pluralize individual letters. For example:
Dot your i’s and cross your t’s.
She wrote her g’s with dramatic flourishes.
4. As Diacritical Marks
A lot of times, using just the alphabets in written English does not capture the sound of the language, given the wide variations in accents and dialects. On these occasions, apostrophe marks can be used to represent missing letters while representing the (usually informal) spoken pronunciation. For example, in certain accents, the final g sound in words is routinely dropped – somethin’, nuthin’, goin’ (something, nothing, going). Similarly, in some, the h sounds are dropped – ‘ard, ‘ere, ‘earing (hard, here, hearing).
Apostrophes are also used to indicate stresses and tones when transliterating other languages into English.
Understanding the manner in which the apostrophe is used is one of the basic lessons in learning written English. The tiny mark that looks like an inverted comma can convey a significant amount of information to the reader.
