How to Use an Apostrophe (') in English: The Ultimate Guide

The apostrophe is a form of punctuation in the English language that is used to indicate possession of nouns or omitted letters. In  Sarah’s book, the apostrophe is used to indicate that the book belongs to Sarah. In  don’t, the apostrophe indicates an omitted letter “o.”

Apostrophe quick reference: Cheat sheet

Below, you can find the table that will help you to quickly identify where apostrophes are placed and where they are unnecessary.

The apostrophe symbol has two primary functions in English: first, it denotes possession, and second, it represents contraction. Ownership is the concept whereby something belongs to another person or thing. Also called omission of letters, these are words made up from the combination of two other terms.

The first one is possession. In the case of  the dog’s bone, the apostrophe tells us that the bone is owned by only one dog. Similarly, it stands for singular nouns, like in  Mary’s phone, it denotes that the phone is Mary’s. For a singular owner, the usual practice in English is to add an ‘s’ after the noun.

Contraction is the second function of the apostrophe.  Don’t is formed when the apostrophe is used to replace the missing letter “o” from “do not.”

When it comes to the verb to be, the  You’re is created when the apostrophe substitutes the letter “a” from “you are.” This is how contractions become widespread.

Some of the rules for apostrophes may be easy until actual names, irregular plurals, style guides, and dates come into play. This is where confusion happens even for native speakers. The best thing to do is to figure out the logic behind the rules before adhering to any specific style guide.

Singular vs. plural possession: the “s” rule

Employ apostrophe “s” rules for singular owners:  The café’s menu is revised every Friday. This implies that one café has one menu. For plural owners that have a natural plural form, make the noun plural and add an apostrophe after the last “s”:  The cafés’ opening hours are different in winter.

Names ending in -s: James’s or James’?

Endings of names with an -s represent one of the most contentious cases for apostrophes. According to various writing formats that are used in academic papers and books,  James’s suitcase was left at the hotel should be chosen since the noun is singular and possesses the regular form with the ending ‘’s.

But some journalistic and company-style manuals permit shorter forms such as  James’ suitcase was left at the hotel, provided that the publication is adhering to its own editing conventions. Here are some more examples from published English:

Irregular plurals: children’s, women’s

A problem that comes up quite often with irregular plurals is that, since they are already plurals, they do not have -s at the end. “Children” refers to more than one child, and “women” to more than one woman. For this reason, irregular plurals take the usual possessive apostrophe – ’s:  The children’s tickets.

That is why childrens’ and womens’ are incorrect in standard English. Do not put another plural s before the plural apostrophe. Identify the real plural first, and then indicate possession. This is true for  The men’s jackets are hanging by the door and  People’s complaints were handled quickly.

Decades and acronyms: the ’90s vs. 90s

In contemporary formal writing, plural decades and acronyms do not require an apostrophe to be written as follows:

The apostrophe is not required because these words are plurals.

An apostrophe is needed in front of any abbreviated decade only when some numbers are omitted; e.g.

It means “I was born in the 1990s.” The apostrophe used here serves to replace the omitted 19.

Certain mistakes involving apostrophes stick out since they alter the meaning of a sentence or render common plurals incorrect. The following three pitfalls show up in essays, store signs, social media posts, e-mail messages, and student writing. Mastering them will make your English sound more natural.

Trap 1: the “it’s vs. its” monster

Its vs. it’s apostrophe challenge has a simple rule that helps to avoid confusion: “it’s” means it is or it has and its shows possession and behaves like his, hers, ours, theirs.

Trap 2: the greengrocer’s apostrophe

One common apostrophe error in British English is known as the greengrocer’s apostrophe. This occurs where apostrophes are incorrectly used in plural nouns, particularly on commercial signboards advertising fruits and vegetables for sale.

Trap 3: joint vs. separate possession

Joint possession refers to the sharing of an object by two or more individuals. In such situations, only the last individual is to have the apostrophe. This is because of the idea that John and Mary jointly own one thing.

An apostrophe in literature is not a punctuation mark but a figure of speech whereby the speaker talks to a non-present, non-existing, or dead person as though he or she were present and can respond to the speaker. Examples include addressing night, love, heaven, or death.

A writer may employ devices like “’tis” for “it is,” “o’er” for “over,” to produce rhythm, preserve meter, or adopt a more ancient form of writing. Here is an example:

In software, Apostrophe is another name that is used to describe a Linux Markdown Editor. In this case, when searching for “Apostrophe Editor,” what one needs is a writing application with a live preview, and not an English punctuation guide. When learning about punctuation, pay attention to examples such as don’t, James’s, and children’s.

Even though the apostrophe is a small punctuation mark, it does carry some significant meanings in the English language. The use of apostrophes is essential since they can indicate ownership, represent letters that have been omitted in the word formation process, and determine whether a sentence is singular or plural.

The most prudent approach would be to determine the cause before introducing an apostrophe figure of speech. Is the apostrophe used for possession, omission, or abbreviation purposes, such as the ’90s? If not, then standard plural forms like pizzas, e-mails, and photos need to do without apostrophes.