| Apostrophes
Apostrophes can be used in two ways—to show possession
and to indicate omission.
Apostrophes Used to Show
Possession
The rules of grammar require that an apostrophe be used to form
both singular and plural possessive nouns.
Singular Possessive Nouns
Use an apostrophe followed by an s when you form the possessive of
a singular noun.
Ex: the cat’s litter box, the dog’s
owner, the professor’s
study guide
In each of these cases, the noun (cat, dog and professor) is singular,
meaning that there is only one of each. The apostrophe s is used to
indicate ownership.
| The Whose Test: If in doubt about whether a word is possessive
or not, ask yourself whose litter box?, whose owner?, or whose
study guide? These questions are key indicators that imply ownership.
By answering to whom the item belongs, you have just revealed the
noun to be possessive and required an apostrophe. |
Regular Plural Possessive Nouns
A plural noun that ends with the letter s requires an apostrophe after
the s to show possession.
Ex: the cats’ litter box, the dogs’ owner, the professors’ study
guides
In the examples above, the s after each word
indicates that there are more than one cat, more than one dog and more than one professor.
The apostrophe following the s indicates possession.
The best way to determine the differences between singular and plural
possessive nouns is illustrated in the following chart:
| Singular Nouns |
Singular Possessive |
Plural Nouns with s |
Plural Possessives with s |
| Cat |
Cat's |
Cats |
Cats' |
| Dog |
Dog's |
Dogs |
Dogs' |
| Professor |
Professor's |
Professors |
Professors' |
| Boy |
Boy's |
Boys |
Boys' |
| Pilot |
Pilot's |
Pilots |
Pilots' |
Irregular Plural Possessive Nouns
Some nouns are irregular in their plural form. They do not merely
add an s to their singular forms to create the plural. Nouns such
as man, woman, and child change in their spelling to men, women
and children. In these cases, an apostrophe followed by an s is
needed.
Ex.: the men’s room, the children’s
playground, women’s
apparel.
There are a few common errors that appear in students' writing. To
see these common mistakes, visit
Common
Possessive Pronoun Mistakes.
Proper Names
Some proper names ending in an s cause many problems for writers.
Determining if there should be an apostrophe s or an s apostrophe
depends on if the name is plural or singular, or if there is a pattern
of repeated s sounds.
Singular Possessive Proper Nouns ending in s
Here, there is only one person having ownership, Charles Dickens and
Charles.
Ex.:
| Charles Dickens |
Charles |
| In Charles Dickens's novel |
Charles's network |
The Continuous S
The rule of grammar states that if a name has more than one syllable
and ends in an s, and the last syllable makes an /ez/ sound (like
in Texas), then only an apostrophe is needed.
Ex.:
| Moses |
Jesus |
Socrates |
Texas |
| Moses' book |
Jesus' glass |
Socrates' view |
Texas' law |
Apostrophes Used to Show Omission
Contractions
An apostrophe is needed when making contractions in order to take
the place of omitted letters.
Ex:
| cannot |
can't |
I will |
I'll |
| do not |
don't |
they are |
they're |
| should not |
shouldn't |
I would |
I'd |
Although these are common practice in our everyday writing,
contractions are sometimes viewed suspiciously formal writing.
Numbers
An apostrophe is required if part of the year is omitted.
Ex: I love the ‘80s. The ‘60s was an era of great musical
influence.
An apostrophe is not required to form the plural of a number.
Ex.: In the 1950s
He scored in the 1500s on his SATs.
Letters
An apostrophe is not needed to form the plural of abbreviations
Ex.: CDs SATs PHDs
Some grammar guides also state that an apostrophe is no longer required
to form the plurals of letters.
Follow the recommendations of the publication manual (MLA or
APA) concerning apostrophes used to form plurals of letters.
You can test your understanding of this handout by completing Academic
Center exercises available
here.
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