As promised, we’ll look at using the apostrophe this week. A couple uses of this punctuation mark confuse writers, especially certain contractions (it’s anyone?) and plural possession.
This will be a short one, but it’s important to get this right.
Use an apostrophe to indicate possession
When you need to show that someone or something owns something, use an apostrophe to create the ownership connection.
When a noun does not end in -s, add -‘s.
Nancy’s car wouldn’t start after three days of below zero temps.
When a singular noun ends in -s, add -‘s.
Chris’s puppy pees on my foot every time I try to pet it.
If the pronunciation of a singular noun ending in -s would become awkward with the addition of -‘s, you can just add an apostrophe. Both uses are acceptable.
Socrates’ philosophies are still important in Western moral thought.
If the possessive noun is plural and ends in -s, you only need to add the apostrophe.
My brothers’ attitudes about pets are completely opposite.
To show two nouns sharing possession, use -‘s with the last noun of the series.
Nancy and Bob’s relationship is confusing to the rest of us.
For compound nouns, use -‘s (if singular) with the last element.
My mother-in-law’s cooking isn’t worth bragging about.
If that compound noun is plural, add only an apostrophe to the last element.
Indefinite pronouns (everyone, someone, no one, something) are treated like singular nouns. You only need to add an -‘s.
Someone’s car was left in the middle of the street.
Apostrophes create contractions
This is my personal favorite way to use the apostrophe. Contractions are the bomb.
The apostrophe replaces the missing letters when the contraction is created. For example, it’s means it is (apostrophe replaces the i in is) and don’t means do not (apostrophe replaces the o in not).
Bob can’t bring himself to stop thinking about dating Nancy someday.
The apostrophe also replaces the first two numbers omitted in a year.
What about numbers, letters and abbreviations?
An apostrophe is used to make numbers, letters and abbreviations plural.
I had three 7’s and an ace in my hand.
Nancy’s name has two N’s.
The cop asked for both of our I.D.’s.
If you follow a particular style manual (especially AP), double check their preferences. AP style doesn’t use an apostrophe when making numbers plural for example.
How NOT to use an apostrophe
Don’t use apostrophes with words that are not possessive. To know for sure if a noun is possessive, turn it into an of phrase and see if it still works.
the dog’s toys
the toys of the dog
Pronouns such as its, whose, his, hers, ours, yours and theirs are possessive without the help of an apostrophe. Its is especially abused in this case. Always check your use of its versus it’s. Try turning its into “it is” to see if it still make sense in the sentence. If “it is” works, then use “it’s.”
No excuses now
Since we’ve cleared up some apostrophe issues, you should have no more excuses for using it wrong, right?
By the way, if you want to have a reference book handy to look these things up, I use two religiously: The Elements of Style by Strunk and White and A Writer’s Reference by Diana Hacker. They’re indispensable to me.
Next time we talk about punctuation, we’ll go over using quotation marks. See ya then.