Apostrophes: purposes, problems and prompts

Can’t remember if ‘its’ means belonging to it or it is? Wonder where to put apostrophes with words ending in ‘s’? Haven’t a clue what ‘joint possession’ is let alone how to do it properly?

See the Ultimate Flowchart to Using Apostrophes from the excellent Grammar Check website

Here is your definitive guide to the purposes and problems of the humble apostrophe, with a few prompts to help you remember the rules.

One punctuation mark, two (or three) very different uses

The problem with the apostrophe is that it has different (sometimes conflicting) uses.

To show possession (belonging to something) as in Dad’s car is in the garage.
To show contraction (missing letters) as in Don’t do that. It’s wrong.
To show plural lowercase letters as in How many t’s are there in your name?

Most of us are okay with contractions; it’s ‘apostrophe s’ and ‘s apostrophe’ that cause problems – especially since we also use ‘s’ to show plurals.

Still with me?

If you’re not sure if you need an apostrophe or what job the apostrophe is doing, ask yourself if the phrase would make sense if you changed it to ‘belonging to…’

For example, you can say Dad’s car because The car belonging to Dad makes sense. But you can’t say Tasty pizza’s sold here because The pizza belonging to Tasty doesn’t make sense. (Unless, of course, there’s someone called Tasty who owns a pizza.)

So, why does it’s not mean belong to it?

Ah, yes. You’ve got a point there. Give the dog it’s bone could indeed mean give the dog the bone belonging to the dog.

This is one you’re just going to have to remember. It’s only ever means it is.

That’s because its (meaning ‘belong to it’) is what we call a possessive pronoun.

Possessive (belonging to) pronouns

Think of its in the same way as his, hers, ours and theirs. You wouldn’t write I’m borrowing hi’s car or Come to our’s for dinner so don’t write The cat refused to sleep on it’s bed. It should be The cat refused to sleep on its bed.

Possession before or after the ‘s’

Most of the problems surrounding the apostrophe relate to possession. That’s probably because it can be placed both before or after the ‘s’.

When the possessive noun (the thing something belongs to) is singular, as in Dad’s car and indeed in Dad’s cars, the apostrophe is placed before the ‘s’.

When the possessive noun is plural, as in the boys’ room or in the boys’ rooms, the apostrophe is placed after the ‘s’.

Words ending in ‘s’

When the noun already ends in an ‘s’, as in James’ car, the apostrophe is placed after the ‘s’. Although, you can also write James’s car with a second ‘s’. They’re both grammatically correct. It’s one of those style things.

However, most grammarians agree that pronunciation should be your guide.

Read more about punctuation

While James’s bike and my boss’s wedding sound right, Moses’s departure and Frances’s desk sound odd. So, with nouns ending in ‘es’, we simply add the apostrophe and leave out the second ‘s’.

Joint possession

Single possession is relatively easy. I’m spending the week at my uncle’s house.(One uncle, one house.) But what happens if your aunt and uncle live in one house together?

When something is owned jointly, you only use one apostrophe. We’re going to Helen and Tom’s party. I’m spending the week at my aunt and uncle’s house.

Contraction (missing letters)

In contraction, we use the apostrophe in place of missing letters, as in don’t, can’t, five o’clock, mustn’t, she’s, he’s, I’m, you’re and we’re.

Remember it’s only ever means it is. Use its when you mean belonging to it.

Apostrophes with plurals

While the infamous greengrocer’s apostrophe (Lovely pears’ only £1 a basket) is in constant use in food industry signage, it is wrong. We eat pizzas, pears and pies NOT pizza’s, pear’s and pie’s.

However, there is one occasion when we do use the apostrophe to show plurals and that’s with plural lowercase letters. Dot the i’s, cross the t’s. Without the apostrophe on i’s and t’s, you might think you’re being asking to dot the is and wonder what a ts is.

If in doubt, check

If you’re still struggling to understand apostrophes, here’s a list of the common mistakes with their correct usage.

Want some grammar training?

You don’t need to remember them all; you just need to remember to check.

Problems with apostrophes – added when they shouldn’t be