Apostrophe Usage Crib Sheet
Apostrophes are used in THREE ways:
- 1. Apostrophe + s = OWNERSHIP or possession with ordinary nouns:
- cat's, Peter's, George's, dog's (meaning "belonging to one dog") dogs' (meaning "belonging to several dogs")
- 2. Apostrophes show a dropped letter in CONTRACTIONS:
- it's = it is, you're = "you are", that's = "that is", couldn't = "could not"
- 3. Single quotes are used inside of NESTED QUOTES to show remarks heard secondhand:
- John said, "Mary said to me yesterday, 'I don't want kids.'"
Apostrophes are NOT used for:
- 1. Possessive PRONOUNS (the idea of possession is built-in):
- its scent, my house, your lollipop, his computer, their reservation; the floor is yours
- 2. PLURAL nouns (just add -s or -es, no apostrophe):
- dogs, cats, the Joneses, butterflies, CDs, 1980s, PhDs
Tricky situations with possessive nouns (NOT pronouns):
- 1. If a noun already ends in s, to make it possessive, just add ' :
- three days' work, the bus' wheels, Massachussetts' governor
- 2. EXCEPT... if a noun is a singular proper name ending in s -- that is, it's capitalized -- add 's :
- John Edwards's candidacy
- 3. With two or more nouns, add an 's to the last noun only if they all own the thing in common:
- Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure
- 4. With two or more nouns, add an 's to each noun if they own things separately:
- Bill's and Ted's underwear (each has his own underwear)
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