{"id":77750,"date":"2019-05-31T13:48:24","date_gmt":"2019-05-31T11:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scribbr.nl\/?p=77750"},"modified":"2023-09-11T10:24:50","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T08:24:50","slug":"apostrophes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scribbr.com\/language-rules\/apostrophes\/","title":{"rendered":"Apostrophes | Definition, Guide, Rules &#038; Examples"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Apostrophes<\/strong> have two main uses:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Indicating possession (e.g., <strong>The student\u2019s paper<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<li>Indicating a contraction (e.g., <strong>She\u2019s writing a paper<\/strong>)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul class=\"kb-checklist\"><\/ul>\n<p><a href=index-3398.html>Contractions<\/a> should be avoided in academic writing, but possessive apostrophes are used in all types of writing. Make sure to use them correctly, especially when dealing with plurals and abbreviations.<\/p>\n<table class=\"kb-table bordered vertical-borders\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Use a possessive apostrophe&#8230;<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>\n<ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li><a href=index-3576.html#possessive-apostrophes-with-singular-nouns\">With singular nouns<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/th>\n<td>This study examines the <strong>company\u2019s<\/strong> efforts to expand.<br \/>\nI highly recommend <strong>Sharon\u2019s<\/strong> salon.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>\n<ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li><a href=index-3576.html#possessive-apostropheswith-plural-nouns\">With plural nouns<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/th>\n<td>My <strong>parents\u2019<\/strong> support was essential.<br \/>\nThe <strong>crowd\u2019s<\/strong> applause could be heard for miles.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>\n<ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li><a href=index-3576.html#possessive-apostropheswith-plural-nouns\">With abbreviations and acronyms<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/th>\n<td>In the last quarter, <strong>BP\u2019s<\/strong> profits dropped.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<table class=\"kb-table bordered vertical-borders\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Don&#8217;t use an apostrophe&#8230;<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>\n<ul class=\"kb-errorlist\">\n<li><a href=index-3576.html#apostrophes-to-form-plurals\">To pluralize nouns<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/th>\n<td>The <strong>results<\/strong> are surprising.<br \/>\nRemember what happened three <strong>Christmases<\/strong> ago?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>\n<ul class=\"kb-errorlist\">\n<li><a href=index-3576.html#apostrophes-to-form-plurals\">To pluralize acronyms<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/th>\n<td>Several <strong>NGOs<\/strong> were present at the conference.<br \/>\nWe can identify the following <strong>KPIs<\/strong>.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>\n<ul class=\"kb-errorlist\">\n<li><a href=index-3576.html#apostrophes-to-form-plurals\">To pluralize decades<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/th>\n<td>The <strong>1920s<\/strong> was a golden age for art.<br \/>\nDuring the <strong>2010s<\/strong> politics slid into confusion.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<th>\n<ul class=\"kb-errorlist\">\n<li><a href=index-3576.html#possessive-pronouns\">With possessive pronouns<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/th>\n<td>The cobra reared <strong>its<\/strong> head.<br \/>\n<strong>Whose<\/strong> snake is that?<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"possessive-single\">Possessive apostrophes with singular nouns<\/h2>\n<p>Apostrophes are used in <a href=index-3577.html>possessive nouns<\/a> to indicate that something belongs to something or someone else.<\/p>\n<p>To indicate possession with a singular <a href=index-3522.html>noun<\/a>, add an <a href=index-3578.html>apostrophe &#8220;s&#8221;<\/a> <strong>\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0at the end of the word. This also applies to names and other <a href=index-3564.html>proper nouns<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li>The <strong>car\u2019s<\/strong> windscreen is foggy.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rome\u2019s<\/strong> backstreets are charming.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A series of actions led to <\/span><strong>Captain Cook\u2019s<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> demise.<\/span><\/li>\n<li>The <strong>princess\u2019s<\/strong> role has become less traditional.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<p>With proper nouns that ends in <em>s<\/em>, most style guides\u2014including\u00a0<a href=index-1778.html>APA<\/a> and <a href=index-1779.html>MLA<\/a>\u2014recommend adding <strong>\u2019s<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li><strong>Doris\u2019s<\/strong> new haircut was alarming.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Mr\u00a0Jones\u2019s<\/strong>\u00a0new dog won&#8217;t stop barking.<\/li>\n<li>The details of\u00a0<strong>Jesus\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>life remain a matter of debate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Some guides allow you to add only an apostrophe in cases where the extra\u00a0<strong>s<\/strong> would be awkward to pronounce aloud. If in doubt, however, adding\u00a0<strong>\u2019<\/strong><strong>s\u00a0<\/strong>is the safest choice.<\/p>\n<p>Note that when you are <a href=index-1775.html>citing a source<\/a>, the apostrophe is attached to the author\u2019s name, not to the <a href=index-3579.html>in-text citation<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li class=\"error\">This paper builds on Adams (2017)\u2019s research.<\/li>\n<li>This paper builds on <strong>Adams\u2019s<\/strong> (2017) research.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"possessive-plural\">Possessive apostrophes\u00a0with plural nouns<\/h2>\n<p>Most <a href=index-3580.html>plural nouns<\/a> already end in <strong>s<\/strong>. In this case, to indicate possession, add only an apostrophe to the end of the word. This also applies to words where the singular and the plural take the same form.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li>The flood destroyed the <strong>beavers\u2019<\/strong> dam.<\/li>\n<li>We present new evidence of the <strong>pirates\u2019<\/strong> intentions.<\/li>\n<li>The two\u00a0<strong>species\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0habitats are very different.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<p>The same rule applies to proper nouns and singular entities that end with a plural noun.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>Smiths\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0house is old and creaky.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>United States\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0military budget is far larger than any other country<strong>\u2019<\/strong>s.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<p>If a plural noun does not end in <strong>s<\/strong>, add <strong>\u2019s <\/strong>as you would for a singular noun. This also applies to <a href=index-3581.html>collective nouns<\/a>, <a href=index-3582.html>uncountable nouns<\/a> and acronyms.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li>The <strong>sheep\u2019s<\/strong> wellbeing is a priority.<\/li>\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>children\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>toys were broken.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Pollen\u2019s<\/strong> harmful <a href=index-3409.html>effects<\/a> are well known.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>ANC\u2019s<\/strong> history is complex and controversial.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"possessive\">Possessive pronouns<\/h2>\n<p><a href=index-3541.html>Pronouns<\/a> stand in for nouns. Possessive pronouns (e.g., <strong>mine, yours, <a href=index-3583.html>hers<\/a>, his, our, <a href=index-3584.html>their<\/a>,\u00a0its<\/strong>)\u00a0indicate that something belongs to someone or something. These pronouns do not take an apostrophe.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li class=\"error\">Is this snake your\u2019s?<\/li>\n<li>Is this snake <strong>yours<\/strong>?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li class=\"error\">The cat arched it\u2019s back.<\/li>\n<li>The cat arched <strong>its<\/strong> back.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Indefinite pronouns (e.g., <strong>someone, something, <\/strong><strong>anybody<\/strong><em>)<\/em>\u00a0do take an apostrophe.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li class=\"error\">Is this somebodys snake?<\/li>\n<li>Is this <strong>somebody\u2019s<\/strong> snake?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<div class=\"kb-textbox border-left\">\n<ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li class=\"error\">This match could be anybodys game.<\/li>\n<li>This match could be <strong>anybody\u2019s<\/strong> game.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Joint possession<\/h2>\n<p>When multiple nouns jointly own one noun, an apostrophe is added after the last noun only.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li><strong>Frida and Diego\u2019s<\/strong> love was complicated.<\/li>\n<li>This solution was first suggested in <strong>McDonald, Ferriss and Bane\u2019s <\/strong>well-known research paper.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In these examples, the same love is possessed by both Frida and Diego, and the same <a href=index-1576.html>research paper<\/a> was written collectively by McDonald, Ferriss and Bane.<\/p>\n<p>When multiple nouns individually own other nouns, however, add an apostrophe after all of the owning nouns.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li><strong>The scientist\u2019s and the robot\u2019s<\/strong> abilities were quite different.<\/li>\n<li>The freezing of pipelines is both <strong>the engineers\u2019 and the operators\u2019<\/strong> problem.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In these examples, the scientist and the robot possess two different sets of abilities, and the engineers and the operators face two separate kinds of problem.<\/p>\n<h2>Contractions<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes one or more letters are omitted to shorten a word or term. An apostrophe is used to indicate missing letters.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li>It is \u2192<strong> it\u2019s<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>I am \u2192 <strong>I\u2019m<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>She is \u2192 <strong>She\u2019s<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Would not \u2192 <strong>wouldn\u2019t<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<p>However, contractions are informal and are usually not appropriate to use in <a href=index-1794.html>academic writing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Apostrophes to form plurals<\/h2>\n<p>In English, an apostrophe should almost never be used to form a plural, including with <a href=index-977.html>acronyms<\/a> and decades.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li class=\"error\">My parents were born in the 1960\u2019s. They both have PhD\u2019s.<\/li>\n<li>My\u00a0parents were born in the <strong>1960s<\/strong>. They both have <strong>PhDs<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<p>There are rare exceptions to this rule, such as pluralizing letters of the alphabet.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li>Dot the <strong>i\u2019s<\/strong> and cross the <strong>t\u2019s<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<h2>Possessive pronouns vs contractions<\/h2>\n<p>One of the most common apostrophe mistakes is confusing possessive pronouns with contractions that look or sound similar. Always pay attention to whether\u00a0an apostrophe is intended to indicate possession or a contraction, and remember that possessive pronouns don&#8217;t take apostrophes.<\/p>\n<h3><a href=index-3585.html>It\u2019s vs. its<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><strong>It\u2019s<\/strong> is a contraction of <strong>it is<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li><strong>It\u2019s<\/strong> unfortunate that wind turbines are expensive.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<p><strong>Its<\/strong> is a possessive pronoun indicating that something belongs to <strong>it<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li>An automated system can correct <strong>its<\/strong> mistakes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<h3><a href=index-3584.html>They\u2019re vs. their<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><strong>They\u2019re<\/strong> is a contraction of\u00a0<strong>they are<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li>The managers can\u2019t see you because <strong>they\u2019re<\/strong> in a meeting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<p><strong>Their<\/strong> is a possessive pronoun indicating that something belongs to <strong>them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li>Jaguars drag <strong>their<\/strong> prey to secluded areas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<h3><a href=index-3586.html>Who\u2019s vs. whose<\/a><\/h3>\n<p><strong>Who\u2019s<\/strong> is a contraction of <strong>who<\/strong><em> is <\/em>or\u00a0<strong>who has<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li>It remains unclear <strong>who\u2019s<\/strong> been setting these traps.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n<p><strong>Whose<\/strong> is a possessive pronoun indicating that something belongs to <strong>them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"kb-textbox border-left blue\"><figcaption>Example<\/figcaption><ul class=\"kb-checklist\">\n<li>It remains unclear <strong>whose<\/strong> idea this was.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Apostrophes have two main uses: Indicating possession (e.g., The student\u2019s paper) Indicating a contraction (e.g., She\u2019s writing a paper) Contractions should be avoided in academic writing, but possessive apostrophes are used in all types of writing. Make sure to use them correctly, especially when dealing with plurals and abbreviations. Use a possessive apostrophe&#8230; With singular [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":""},"categories":[28634],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Apostrophes | Definition, Guide, Rules &amp; Examples<\/title>\n
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