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The apostrophe is often misused by students in essays and other forms of coursework, so below is an explanation of what the apostrophe is for and how you should use it. The apostrophe has two uses: 1 – to show that a letter or some letters have been taken out of a phrase to shorten it: do not becomes don’t I will becomes I’ll Could have becomes could’ve You use the apostrophe in this way in informal writing only. You should not shorten words when writing essays or producing college work. So the best way of avoiding mistakes made with shortening words and using apostrophes is to not shorten the words! Remember, should’ve and could’ve are shortened versions of could have and should have, not could of or should of – never write 'could of' or 'should of'; it is always an incorrect use of English. 2 – to show you that something belongs to someone else. To show belonging you add ‘s to the end of the word. the dog’s tail – says that the tail belongs to the dog the car’s lights – says that the lights belong to the car Susan’s hair – says that the hair belongs to Susan Usually the apostrophe goes before the s. However, if the owner already ends in s, then the apostrophe goes after the s. the dogs’ bowls – says the bowls belong to some dogs the cars’ wheels – says that the wheels belong to some cars the girls’ coats – says that the coats belong to some girls James’ coat - says that the coat belongs to James Several of the above words end in s because they are plural (they tell us that there is more than one dog, more than one car and more than one girl). So you need to be careful to watch out for plurals that do not end in s. For example, one man is a man, if you have more than one man you have men, so the plural for man changes the a to e, rather than by adding an s. These words use ’s to show possession. the men’s wages – shows that the wages belong to the men the children’s pocket money – shows that the pocket money belongs to the children
Common Mistakes
Your / you’re One of the most common mistakes is using your when you mean you are or you’re. Your says that something is yours. You’re is short for you are. your hair – the hair belongs to you you’re a nice person – you are a nice person The best way to avoid confusing the two is to always write you are in full, as you should do anyway in formal writing. If you write you are in full you will avoid mistakes like writing ‘you’re hair’, which if written in full is ‘you are hair’ and makes no sense (unless you are talking to your hair of course!). Its / it’s Its says that something belongs to something, it’s is short for it is. the tree shook its leaves – the leaves belong to the tree it’s hot outside – it is hot outside Again, this is a mistake that can easily be avoided by always writing it is in full and by not using an apostrophe when you want to say something belongs to something. So always read what you have written removing the apostrophe and writing the words in full to see if it makes sense. For example: The tree shook it’s leaves Remove the apostrophe: The tree shook it is leaves Written in full we can see that it is makes no sense here, so the correct sentence should be: The tree shook its leaves
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