The (Adult) Apostrophe Page: '
Mine! Mine!
I own it.
It belongs to me!
Or, if you're in a more generous mood:
His.
He owns it.
It belongs to him.
Whether you're into greed or giving, the apostrophe functions as a handy shorthand for ownership.
Vic's = Belongs to Vic
Harry's = Belongs to Harry
Cheerleaders' = Belongs to the Cheerleaders
However:
Cheerleader's = Belongs to one Cheerleader
By looking at the two "Cheerleader" examples, you can deduce a pattern:
When the word meaning the owner ends in "s" (Cheerleaders), you put the apostrophe after the "s." (Cheerleaders')
When the word meaning the owner does not end in "s," (Cheerleader) you put the apostrophe before the "s." (Cheerleader's).
How come it's always the Cheerleaders who get the good stuff?
All is well.
A simple rule.
Except.
Except there are a couple of curious conventions that some sadist in an early century threw into the mix just to give teachers an excuse to downgrade the unalert student.
But this will not happen to you, dear student, for you will have discovered these nasties by reading the below paragraphs!
Yay!
Pronouns do not use apostrophes to show ownership.
its = belongs to it
Pronouns use apostrophes to show contractions.
it's = it is
Arghhhhh! Please write in the box, some way you will remember that "it's = it is" and "its = belonging to it"
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Let's spend a bit of time doing contractions, shall we?
Yes, we shall.
You may already have noticed that apostrophes work as a kind of shorthand.
They can, with one stroke, replace the phrase, "belongs to. . ."
Apostrophes are also used when we want to collapse a couple of words into a single word.
Another way of saying "collapse" is the word "contract."
When we collapse a couple of words into a single word we call that a "contraction."
Which has nothing to do with the act of giving birth in which situation apostrophes are uncalled for. (Or maybe. . .? No. Definitely not!)
they're = they are
this's = this is
don't = do not
can't = can not
Contractions can be handy, but be aware that they are used primarily in informal situations.
If your writing is intended to be a formal work, such as applications, academic essays, letters to your congressman etc, you probably should avoid them.
Instead, spell out the whole phrase.
Try it, write a couple of sentences in which you use contractions and then revise them using the full phrase.
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Notice any difference in tone?
Lots of writing is informal, however.
And if it's an informal tone you'd like, don't avoid contractions.
I use contractions a lot in this program; how do you like this approach?
Another place to use the apostrophe is when you are creating some writing that imitates the way people speak.
People do not usually speak in formal, standard English.
They usually speak in whatever dialect or form of English they grew up with.
And if you want a character in a story to have dialogue that reads as the character might speak, you'll probably use lots of apostrophes, even inventing places to put them.
I ain't go'in' !
Shud'p yo'r damn face, id'jit!
Mark Twain was a master at this. As can you be.
Fill up the space with clever uses of apostrophes to write in a dialect.
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To return to Step Two, please click : HERE
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