Apostrophes

Two Main Uses

1. Contractions - showing omitted letters
2. Possession - showing ownership

Apostrophes in Contractions

Common Contractions

Apostrophes for Possession

Singular Nouns

Add ‘s:

• The dog’s bowl (one dog)
• The teacher’s desk (one teacher)
• Sarah’s book
• The company’s policy

Plural Nouns Ending in -s

Add only ’:

• The dogs’ bowls (multiple dogs)
• The teachers’ lounge (multiple teachers)
• The students’ answers

Plural Nouns Not Ending in -s

Add ‘s:

• The children’s toys
• The women’s restroom
• The people’s choice

Singular Nouns Ending in -s

Both are acceptable:

• James’s car or James’ car
• Charles’s house or Charles’ house

Common Mistakes

Its vs. It’s

• It’s = it is / it has (contraction)

• Its = belonging to it (possession)

• ✓ It’s raining. (It is raining)

• ✓ The cat licked its paw. (the paw of the cat)

• ❌ The cat licked it’s paw.

Your vs. You’re

• You’re = you are (contraction)

• Your = belonging to you (possession)

• ✓ You’re welcome. (You are welcome)

• ✓ Is this your book? (the book belonging to you)

Their vs. They’re

• They’re = they are (contraction)

• Their = belonging to them (possession)

• ✓ They’re coming tomorrow. (They are coming)

• ✓ That’s their house. (the house belonging to them)

Don’t Use Apostrophes For

Plurals

• ❌ Apple’s for sale

• ✓ Apples for sale

• ❌ The 1990’s

• ✓ The 1990s

Possessive Pronouns

• ❌ her’s, our’s, their’s
• ✓ hers, ours, theirs

Quiz