Apostrophes

Three uses—    Indicate possession Form contractions (RARELY) Form plurals in some situations

      Joanna’s car (’s after a singular noun) everyone’s best interest (’s after an indefinite pronoun) students’ papers or judges’ robes (s’ with plural noun ending in –s or -es) men’s experiences or children’s television (’s after plural noun not ending in –s or –es.) Mom and Dad’s last vacation possession) (’s after the last word in a compound noun to show joint brother’s and sister’s bank accounts (’s after each noun to show individual possession)

   doesn’t (contraction of does + not) she’ll (contraction of she + will) ’97 champions or class of ’09 (omission of digits in a year) PLEASE NOTE: Although there is no rule against contractions, they are often considered too informal for some writing situations. Check with your teacher if you are unsure whether contractions are allowed.

PLEASE NOTE: These situations are fairly rare.    7’s 1970’s or 1970s if’s, and’s, or but’s

     Whose car is this? (NOT: Who’s car is this?) It’s a nice day today. (Contraction of it + is) The car lost its wheel. (No apostrophe in possessive form of it.) Keats’s poetry or Keats’ poetry. (Depends on difficulty of pronunciation and style book) 1980s or 1980’s (Depends on style book. MLA prefers no apostrophe.)

   Writing Handbook Writing Center Prince 209 (843) 349-2937 Your Instructor