What are apostrophes?

​The apostrophe is a curved punctuation mark (') written at the top right of a word.

It has two main functions:

1. to show omission (letters are left out)

2. to show possession (ownership)

Sometimes letters (or numbers) are deliberately left out in order to make the words (or large numbers) shorter. We use an apostrophe to show this.

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Ex. government-->gov't​

Ex. 1980-->'80​

2. Abbreviation

Sometimes words are joined together, and some letters are omitted when this happens.

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Ex. do not-->don't

Ex. should have-->should've​

1. Contraction

Apostrophes used to show omission

To show possession by more than one owner, and if that plural noun already ends with an s, add an apostrophe at the end of the word.

Ex. the boys' bathroom​

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If the plural noun doesn't end with an s, add an apostrophe and the letter s.​

Ex. the children's bedroom​

​Plural

To show possession by one owner, add an apostrophe and the letter s to the owner.

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Ex. the cat's tail​

Ex. Louis's backpack​

​Singular

Apostrophes used to show possession

​Apostrophes are NEVER used to indicate the plural.

These are all incorrect:

1. I have worked here for year's.

2. Oreo's are my favorite cookies.

3. No Dog's Allowed!

Determine whether the apostrophe is used correctly in the following sentences.