Apostrophe
The apostrophe is a punctuation mark used in writing. It is a diacritic (a mark used with letters).
In English, it has two jobs:[1]
- To show where one or more letters have been left out, as in the abbreviation (contraction) of do not to don't.
- To show the possessive case, as in the cat’s whiskers.
Examples
Its versus it's
The most common grammatical mistake in written English is to put it's where its is correct.
Its: a possessive adjective and pronoun of the personal pronoun it.
- The cat chased its tail. (correct)
- The tyre lost it's grip. (wrong)
It's: a contraction of the verbal phrase it is or it has.
- It's mine. (correct; check: It is mine)
- It's been here. (correct; check: It has been here)
- The cat chased it's tail. (wrong; cannot be expanded to it is)
The same applies to yours, theirs and ours because these are also possessive adjectives of personal pronouns.
- The colour is ours.
- That book is hers (or his).
- Theirs was the responsibility.
Possession
Apostrophes are also used to show something belongs to someone (or something). Again, correct uses can be expanded:
- Mike's car. (correct; the car that belongs to Mike)
- The dog's ball. (correct; the ball that belongs to the dog)
- Those dog's are large. (wrong; here "dogs" is a plural word)
The intrusive apostrophe
Comes in plurals which don't (do not) need it. Do not put an apostrophe in word ending in s, such as a plural. Put an apostrophe, or 's, at the end of the word instead.
- Mr. Jones' hat or Mr. Jones's hat. (both correct)
- Both of my parents' birthdays. (correct)
- CD's and DVD's (wrong; not possessive. See "Plural" section below)
- Apple's and pear's (wrong; not possessive)
Writing dialogue or titles
Apostrophes are also used when other words are shortened, as in slang:
- Go get 'em tiger! or Li'l Bow Bow.
This is just a version of the abbreviation function.
Plural
To make a word that doesn't (does not) usually exist as a plural into a plural, an apostrophe is occasionally used. See these examples:
- How many A's did you get this year? Here it is wrong because it is not needed.
- The poll received many yes's and very few no's. Here it is sensible because without it the words 'yess' and 'nos' look quite peculiar. However, you may find 'yeses' and 'noes' are appropriate as plurals. General rule: if an apostrophe is not needed, do not use it.
Apostrophe Media
Sign to Green Craigs housing development
An apostrophe can be used in the plural form of a single letter, as seen in the team logo of the Oakland A's.
One would think that management at Dublin's most famous hotel would notice that there was something wrong with this notice.*The Shelbourne Hotel was founded in 1824 by Tipperaryman Martin Burke, when he acquired three adjoining townhouses overlooking Dublin's St Stephen's Green - Europe's largest garden square. Burke named his grand new hotel The Shelbourne, after William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne.*In the early 1900s, Alois Hitler, Jr, the half brother of Adolf Hitler, worked in the hotel while in Dublin.*In 1922, the hotel played a very important part in the founding of the Irish
Sign at Leeds railway station, England, with an extraneous apostrophe crossed out
Typographic (green) and typewriter (red) apostrophe, followed by a prime (blue), between letters Í and í (using acute accent), using the fonts: Arial, Calibri, Tahoma, Times New Roman, and Linux Libertine
References
- ↑ Quirk, Geenbaum, Leech & Svartvik, A comprehensive grammar of the English language. Longman, London & New York. p985 ISBN 0-582-51734-6