If you forget the apostrophe when you write contractions like you’re, don’t or isn’t, most people will still know what you mean. Not so much in an “understanding the meaning” kind of way, but more of a “proper punctuation” kind of way. It’s is a contraction for “it is.” It’s is never a possessive.Īs Strunk and White remind us in The Elements of Style (4th ed.), “It’s a wise dog that scratches its own fleas” (1).When to Put an Apostrophe Before the ‘s’ and When to Put It AfterĪpostrophes play a big role in writing the English language. Note that contractions are often considered too informal for academic writing. The apostrophe is used to mark omitted letters in contractions. Indefinite Pronouns, such as anyone, everybody, no one, and somebody, use the singular possessive form.Įxample: Somebody’s dog stayed in our room last night. (plural) Possessive Pronouns, such as yours, hers, its, and ours, take no apostrophe.Įxample: The decision is yours. The students searched for their missing books. Remember: the apostrophe never designates the plural form of a noun. Possessivesįorm the possessive case of a singular noun by adding ’s (even if the word ends in s).Įxamples: Hammurabi’s code, Dickens ’s last novel, James’s celloįorm the possessive case of a plural noun by adding an apostrophe after the final letter if it is an s or by adding ’s if the final letter is not an s.Įxamples: the students’ books, the children’s toys Nevertheless, with some attention, you can learn the rules and the exceptions. The exceptions to the rule may seem confusing: hers has no apostrophe, and it’s is not possessive. The basic rule is quite simple: use the apostrophe to indicate possession, not a plural. ![]() Writers often misuse apostrophes when forming plurals and possessives. Apostrophes may indicate possession or mark omitted letters in contractions.
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