Apostrophes
In summary
Apostrophes are used to join two words together or to show something belongs to
someone. In this summary, you will learn how to use apostrophes in your writing.
Apostrophes
When you join two words together, you use an apostrophe to show that there are
some letters missing.
Contractions are the new words made from joining two words together.
Not all contractions are two words joined together.
Some contractions are simply shorter versions of one word or a shorter way to say a
few words.
Apostrophes show possession
To show something belongs to somebody or something, you add an apostrophe,
followed by an ‘s’ to the end of the owner’s name.
When the owner’s name already ends in an ‘s‘, you should still add an apostrophe to
show possession.
Using apostrophes to show possession to a group.
If you are writing about something that belongs to more than one person, or a
group of people, the rules are slightly different. If the plural word already ends in an ‘s‘,
simply add an apostrophe after this to show possession:
Example
The twins’ outfits always matched.
The neighbours’ house was broken into last night.
If the plural word does not end in an ‘s‘, add an apostrophe followed by an ‘s‘:
Example
The children’s new scooters are great.
The teachers’ staff room is really cool.
Apostrophes in it is and it’s
‘Its‘ and ‘It’s‘ can be very confusing, but it is very important that you know the
difference and can use it accurately in your writing.
It’s
‘It’s’, is a contracted version of ‘it is‘ or ‘it has‘.
