Transcript The Apostrophe - Odessa College

The Apostrophe
How to Use It Without Suffering
Too Much
First of all,
• Don’t feel bad—
hardly anyone knows
how to use them
correctly
They appear to be the most random of
punctuation marks
And hardly anyone notices when they’re
misused
And they are often misused
Did I say no one really notices?
Well, except for Grammar Nazis
When do you use apostrophes?
• You use them to form
contractions; and
• To show possession.
Use an Apostrophe to Form
Contractions
• Use an apostrophe to indicate the omission of
letters from words. It should be placed
immediately above the point of omission:
– The man isn’t here.
• The man is not here.
– It’s time to begin the test.
• It is time to begin the test.
– I graduated with the class of ’74.
• I graduated with the class of 1974.
– She got home at eleven o’clock
• She got home at eleven of the clock (you didn’t know that
one, did you?)
You should be
able to click on
the back arrow
and return to
the presentation
Click here for a link to a kids’ video on
using apostrophes to form contractions
Use an Apostrophe to Indicate Possession
Two Rules for Making Nouns
Possessive
• Rule 1: Add an apostrophe
and s (‘s) to form the
possessive of singular
nouns and of plurals that
do not end in s.
– The giant rabbit of Harvey
• Harvey’s giant rabbit
– The annoying cough of the
man
• The man’s annoying
cough
– The philosophy of Aristotle
• Aristotle’s philosophy
• Rule 2: Add an
apostrophe (‘) to form the
possessive of plural nouns
that end in s.
– The cheers of the
cheerleaders
• The cheerleaders’
cheers
– The smell of the flowers
• The flowers’ smell
– The teachings of Jesus
• Jesus’ teachings
You should be able to click
on the back arrow and
return to the presentation.
Click here for a kids’ video on
forming the possessive with the
apostrophe-s or just the
apostrophe.
Distinguish between Possessives and
Plurals
• You have to be able to distinguish between
a possessive and a simple plural.
– A plural may be followed by a verb,
prepositional phrase or nothing at all.
– Words that show possession will end in s, like
plurals, but will be immediately followed by
something that is being possessed, as in
Dad’s favorite necktie.
POSSESSIVE
The carpenter’s tools
Two weeks’ vacation
Father’s Day
The queen’s daughter
The dishwasher’s rinse
cycle
PLURAL
Two of the carpenters
are out sick today.
I’ll be back in two weeks.
The fathers in the class
built a race car.
The queens had a party
for their daughters.
We've bought three
dishwashers from Sears.
Apostrophes!!!