Apostrophes

Apostrophes

Apostrophes have four purposes-

1) To show that one or more letters have been missed out in a word (contractions) eg.

Will not= won’t  I have= I’ve  They are= They’re

2) To show that something belongs to someone (possession)

It is Emma’s pencil.  (The pencil belongs to Emma)

It is Sam’s house.  (The house that belongs to Sam)

If the name ends in an ‘s’ then just put the apostrophe after the ‘s’ eg. It is James’ pen. It is Dennis’ house.

Look below to see how the meanings change depending on where you put the apostrophe-

  •My sister's friend's clothes (the clothes belonging to a friend of my sister)

 

•My sister's friends' clothes (the clothes belonging to several friends of my sister)

•My sisters' friend's clothes (the clothes belonging to a friend of several of my sisters)

•My sisters' friends' clothes (the clothes belonging to several friends of several of my sisters)

 

Be careful WHERE you put the apostrophe as it can change the meaning eg.

The pupil’s results (the results belonging to one pupil)

The pupils’ results (the results belonging to lots of pupils)

An apostrophe after the 's' means it belongs to multiple people.

3) Apostrophes for Quoting

If you wrote: Our ‘luxury’ hotel turned out to be a dump the apostrophes would show that you had quoted the word ‘luxury’ from the brochure.

4) Apostrophes for Irony/ Sarcasm

If you wrote: That was a ‘delicious’ dinner then ‘delicious’ would be sarcastic as you put it in apostrophes.