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RULES FOR APOSTROPHE USE
Below are the key rules for using the apostrophe (').
PLURALS
Plurals NEVER take an apostrophe. Never. There are no exceptions. The same is true for plurals of abbreviations - it is A.T.M.s, not A.T.M.'s and G.P.s not G.P.'s.
CONTRACTIONS
In contracted words - words formed by joining two words together and missing out some letters - the apostrophe takes the place of the missing letters so that:
Do not becomes Don't
I would becomes I'd
She will becomes She'll
We have becomes We've, and so on.
POSSESSIVES
Apostrophes are used to make a noun possessive - i.e. to show the ownership of an item.
With a singular noun, (such as John, horse, New Zealand), an apostrophe and an s are added at the end of the word to indicate ownership:- John's coat, the horse's tail, New Zealand's beautiful scenery. The exception to this is singular nouns which end in the letter s. For possessives, these are treated in the same way as plural nouns.
The possessive form of plural nouns and singular nouns ending in s (such as boys, dogs, soldiers, princess) is indicated by placing an apostrophe at the end of the word, but no s after the apostrophe:- the boys' boots, the dogs' collars, the soldiers' rations, the princess' gown.
The possessive form of a pronoun does not take an apostrophe at all but instead is an entirely separate word, as set out below:
Me - My/Mine
You - Your/Yours
He - His
She - Her/Hers
It - Its
We - Our/Ours
They - Their/Theirs
Who - Whose
Where alternatives are given, which you use will depend on the structure of the sentence, e.g.:
This is my/your/her/our/their house or
This house is mine/yours/hers/ours/theirs.
COMMON MISTAKES
There are two very common mistakes in apostrophe use, and both come from not following the rules set out above:
Its, It's and Its': The possessive form of the word it is its, without an apostrophe anywhere, because it is a pronoun and follows the special rules for possessive pronouns. It's can only mean it is, or it has following the rules for contractions, and depending on context, and its' doesn't exist at all, since the plural of it is they.
Whose and who's: Once again, who is a pronoun, and following the rules for possessive pronouns, the correct possessive is whose. The word who's is a contraction of who is or who has.
10:19 am, Friday, April 26, 2002 (7 years ago)
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