22 Apostrophes

This piece of punctuation is probably the toughest to master, and once you’re comfortable with apostrophes you’ll start to notice how often they’re misused all around us. Take this sign, for example, which I see as I walk into work every day:

There’s an apostrophe missing here. The “risk” in this message belongs to someone — the owners — and that needs to be acknowledged with an apostrophe.

You might not think that missing apostrophe is a big deal, but I promise you, misplaced or missing apostrophes can really affect the meaning of your sentences in ways that can be confusing, insulting, or even humorous to readers. This example from a writing text^[1] illustrates that point nicely.

• The instructor began class by calling the students’ names.
• The instructor began class by calling the students names.

In the first sentence, the teacher is simply taking attendance. But in the second sentence, the one missing the apostrophe, the teacher begins class by mocking and insulting the students!

So we want to use apostrophes correctly. Well, when do we use them? What do they do?

Apostrophes have two main functions, and in both instances it’s useful to think of apostrophes as arrows. Like arrows, apostrophes point at things.

Before we discuss how you should use apostrophes, I want to deliver a vital message about when you should not use them.

Apostrophes Do Not Make Nouns Plural

Nouns can be singular (one) or plural (more than one). With nouns, we indicate that a noun is plural by adding s or es to the end of the noun.

Note that I didn’t use any apostrophes in that table. That’s because apostrophes are never used to make nouns plural. We use letters for that job, not punctuation.

Sear that advice into your memory; repeat it five times every night before bed; get it tattooed onto your arm^[2]. Whatever you need to do to remember this rule — do it. Apostrophe errors like these stand out like neon lights, particularly to your instructors.

The video game’s I play with my brother’s teach us about working in team’s.

• • • Yuck! None of these apostrophes belong here. We use letters, not punctuation, to make things plural.

Apostrophes Indicate Letters That Were Removed

Apostrophes are used often in the creation of contractions. Contractions are words formed by combining multiple words and removing one or more of the letters in them, or by shortening a long word by removing letters.

A word like I’m, for example, is a contraction of two words: [I + am]. The apostrophe is placed where the letter a was removed (the apostrophe is like an arrow).

A word like ma’am is a contraction of the larger word madam. The apostrophe is placed where the letter d was removed.

Many contractions remove more than one letter, but the same rule applies: place the apostrophe so that it points down and the spot where letters were removed.

can’t  =  cannot  (apostrophe points down to where we removed the n and the o)

o’clock  =  of the clock (apostrophe points down to where we removed f, t, h, e)

Apostrophes Show Possession/Ownership

In English, when we want to show that someone owns something, or something belongs to something else in some way, we often use apostrophes to indicate that relationship.^[3]

Gurpreet’s shoulder is in a sling.

In this sentence, the shoulder belongs to Gurpreet; it’s part of his body. So, to acknowledge that the shoulder belongs to Gurpreet, we add ‘s on the end of Gurpreet. That apostrophe (and the s) is the clue to the reader that we’re talking about something that belongs to someone/something else. Like an arrow, the apostrophe curves and points back at the owner.

GRAPHIC OF APOSTROPHE LIKE ARROW

Apostrophes For Singular Owners

If the owner is a singular noun, then just add ‘s after the noun, like this:

Xian’s memory is excellent.

The camera’s lens is broken.

If the singular owner happens to end in an s, you can still add ‘s on the end.

Marcus’s shoes are cool.

Hercules’s strength was legendary.

If either of those looks weird, that’s okay. Most style guides would say that you can leave out the last s. Just be consistent.

Apostrophes For Plural Owners

If the owner is a plural noun (these tend to end in s), then you just add an apostrophe on the end, like this:

The players’ uniforms were all stained.  

• • • (apostrophe points back to the owners of the uniforms: players)

My parents’ dog is sick. 

• • • (apostrophe points back to the owners of the dog: parents)

The children’s school lunches were delicious.

• • • (apostrophe points back to the owners of the lunches: children)

Compound Owners

In some instances, there might be more than one distinct owner to point to.

For example, let’s say two friends, Tom and Jerry, bought two lottery tickets. If I wanted to describe the tickets, should I write Tom and Jerry’s tickets or Tom’s and Jerry’s tickets? One apostrophe or two?

The answer depends on whether Tom and Jerry own the two tickets together (joint ownership), or whether they each have their own ticket (individual ownership).

Individual Ownership

If there are two separate owners, each with their own ticket, I’d write it like this:

Tom’s and Jerry’s tickets

I point to both; some are Tom’s tickets and some are Jerry’s tickets.

Joint Ownership

If the two people bought tickets that belong to both of them together, I’d write it like this:

Tom and Jerry’s tickets

The apostrophe points back at the group that owns the tickets: Tom and Jerry.