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Apostrophes

In a nutshell

The apostrophe is a very important and often misused punctuation mark (') that does two main jobs: it indicates possession and omission.

Possession

An apostrophe can show that something belongs to someone or something. In other words, an apostrophe can form a possessive noun. 

Singular nouns

For singular nouns, the rule is simple: add an apostrophe and an s.

Examples

The cat's toy

The boy's uniform

The car's wheels

Plural nouns

For plural nouns that already end in s, only add an apostrophe.

Examples

The cats' toys (multiple cats)

The boys' uniform (multiple boys)

The cars' wheels (multiple cars)

For plural nouns that don't end in s (irregular nouns), add an apostrophe and an s.

Examples

People's beliefs

The men's bathroom

The children's playroom

Singular proper nouns

For singular proper nouns (like names), the rule is the same as for common nouns: add an apostrophe and an s.

Examples

Sadia's friend is visiting her this weekend.

Joel's homework is done.

However, when the singular proper noun ends in s, some writers only add an apostrophe while others add an apostrophe and (another) s.

Example

Charles Dickens' characters

OR

Charles Dickens's characters

Note: both ways are acceptable but whatever way you choose, stay consistent. Don't switch between the two in your writing.

Plural proper nouns

For plural proper nouns that end in s, only add an apostrophe.

Example

The Smiths' holiday house (more than one Smith family member)

Omission

The word 'omission' means to leave something out. In English, letters or groups of letters are often left out to make words shorter or join words together and therefore make speech or writing easier and faster. This is known as a contraction and apostrophes are used to represent these left-out letters.

Examples

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Not all contractions are two words joined together. Some contractions are simply shorter versions of one word or a shorter way to say a few words.

Examples

Omission of letters is also present in writing to represent a particular style of speech. These less common contractions are used more in dialogue to reflect the way people actually talk or in poetry to enhance the rhythm.

Examples

Note: it's important to note that contractions are generally informal, especially those in the example above, and should not be used in formal writing. 

Exceptions

Two exceptions to the rules discussed above are the frequently-confused words, 'it's' and 'its'. 

It's

'It's' is a contraction of 'it is' or 'it has'. 'It's' is never a possessive. 

Examples

Its

'Its', on the other hand, is the possessive for 'it' or belonging to 'it'. It is a possessive pronoun (like his, hers, yours, theirs).

Examples