Apostrophes

1. Be careful! Apostrophes

2. To form the possessive (showing ownership) case of a singular noun, add an apostrophe and an s. Examples: The cat’s bowl Kelly’s coat Ross’s sleeve In words of more than one syllable that end in an s-sound, it is permissible to form the singular possessive by adding the apostrophe without the s to avoid too many s-sounds. Example: the seamstress’ work The Apostrophe – rules: singular nouns

3. To form the possessive case of a plural noun ending in s, add only the apostrophe. Examples: girls’ team, boys' golf BUT – the few plural nouns that do not end in s form the possessive by adding the apostrophe and an s just like singular nouns do. Examples: women’s department, children’s playground Plural nouns

4. Personal pronouns in the possessive case(hishers its ours yours theirs) and the relative pronoun whose do not require an apostrophe. Examples We thought the top score was hers. I have witnessed democracy at its best. Whose notebook is this? Personal pronouns

5. Indefinite pronouns such as one, everyone, someone, everybody, etc. in the possessive case require an apostrophe and an s. Examples: Everyone’s vote counts. She consented to everybody’s request. Indefinite pronouns

6. In hyphenated words, names of organizations and business firms, and words showing joint possession, only the last word is possessive in form. Hyphenated: father-in-law’s hobby Organizations: Black and Decker’s tools Joint possession: Don and Fay’s report Exception: When the 2nd word is a possessive pronoun, the 1st word is also possessive: Don’s and my report. Hyphenated words, etc.

7. When 2 or more persons possess something individually, each of their names is possessive in form: Tom’s and Bill’s jackets 2 or more individual ownership

8. Apostrophes are used to form plurals of letters that appear in lowercase; here the rule appears to be more typographical than grammatical, e.g. "three ps" versus "three p's." To form the plural of a lowercase letter, place 's after the letter. There is no need for apostrophes indicating a plural on capitalized letters, numbers, and symbols (though keep in mind that some editors, teachers, and professors still prefer them). letters and numbers

9. Use an apostrophe to indicate where letters and numbers have been left out. Examples: Don’t=do not They’re-they are ‘60s=1960s Omitted letters and numbers