Apostrophes Generally Do Two Things: 1. Indicate that some object or quality belongs to someone or something. 2. Indicate that a letter or group of letters have been left out to create contractions. Apostrophes Help the Reader Understand the Meaning Apostrophes are necessary to help your reader understand what you mean on first reading. Won’t and wont mean two different things. Can’t and cant mean two different things. Readers may not understand whether you mean the possessive or the plural. “The chairs legs are broken,” as opposed to, “The chair’s legs are broken.” Apostrophes Indicate Belonging Apostrophes are added to nouns and names to indicate ownership or possession of a thing or quality. If the owner is singular, add an apostrophe and an “s.” Bob’s book got wet. The student’s assignment is due. When the owner of the object or quality is a plural noun which ends in an “s,” the apostrophe goes after the “s.” The players’ uniforms got lost. The girls’ dresses are cute. If you use a plural noun which doesn’t end in “s,” add the apostrophe and the “s.” The men’s tools were stolen. The deer’s wide eyes were large and brown. If something belongs to two or more people, use the apostrophe and “s” only with the last noun. Bill and Carol’s new camper sleeps six. If you want to show that each individual owns something, make all the nouns possessive. Tommy’s and Mark’s houses were very different. Sometimes it is hard to see the ownership: A day’s work To determine if a noun is possessive, try turning it into an of phrase: The work of a day Note: When the owner’s name ends in an “ s,” you will be writing “ s’s.” UPS’s deliveries are never on time. Bridget Jones’s Diary was an okay movie. Exceptions Possessive pronouns which end in “s” do not use an apostrophe. His books are heavy. This house is ours. That desk is hers. Its tail is wagging. Apostrophes Create Contractions When you leave letters out and create a word made by two different words, use an apostrophe to indicate where the left out letters would go. Why can’t you understand? He doesn’t care at all. He won’t do his homework. Are you sure it’s a problem? (cannot) (does not) (will not) (it is) Plural Numerals and Acronyms The plural form of numerals and acronyms do not use apostrophes. Peggy skated nearly perfect figure 8s. He owns many CDs. Making a Plural of a Decade When using numbers, the apostrophe is omitted when creating the plural form of a decade. The 1960s birthed new forms of music. The 90s were rad. When do you use its and when do you use it’s? When editing, most people have to stop and read the sentence saying, “it is.” If the sentence makes sense, use the apostrophe because you are wanting to create a contraction. If the sentence doesn’t make sense, don’t use the apostrophe, meaning it’s a possessive pronoun. Example: It’s confusing in the Evans Building that each level doesn’t have its own floor number. You would say “it is confusing,” but you would not say “it is own floor number.”