Apostrophes: You Asked, We Answered
By Keira, Textbroker Editor
Apostrophes are used for two main purposes: to show possession or omission. To show possession means to illustrate something as belonging to something else. We could say the following:
"The ball of the girl smashed through the window."
It would sound better to say:
"The girl's ball smashed through the window."
For many words, possession is indicated by using an apostrophe followed by the letter "s." Consider the following:
"We tried to fend off the approaching underwater bear. Fortunately, we found Eric's arm was a good distraction."
With possession, we are really asking the question of "whose." Whose arm was a distraction? Eric's arm was a distraction. Whose ball smashed through the window? The girl's ball smashed through the window.
Some words are inherently possessive. These words should never have an apostrophe because they already indicate a sense of belonging to something else. These words are: mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours and theirs. Variations of these forms, such as "my" and "your," are also possessive.
Using both of these rules, we can now create several variations of the same idea.
"Neil swears that his tin foil hats will upgrade you to five stars."
"Neil's tin foil hats are believed to have mind-altering effects on the editors, prompting an upgrade to five stars."
"Neil stands by his tin foil hats. He told a reporter at MSNBC, 'My hats are a must-have for all authors. They alter hidden radio frequencies, causing the carefully-programmed brains of editors to tune into the left prefrontal cortex. This crossing of signals yields a positive response, encouraging praise and the adjustment of scores.'"
Each of these sentences indicates that tin foil hats belong to Neil. For further rules on possession, take a look at the AP Stylebook or Purdue's OWL.
Knowing these rules, some writers get confused about the word "its," which brings us to using apostrophes to indicate omission. We use several of these omissions, or contractions, in our daily speech. Saying "do not" or "we have" is usually seen as a more formal style of speech. While that style is encouraged for professional writing, there are times where a more natural approach fits. In English, we accomplish this by eliminating certain letters and showing the omission of those letters with an apostrophe. "Do not" becomes "don't" and "we have" becomes "we've." Using an apostrophe is very important. Some may not be aware of this, but many of these contractions would have different meanings without the apostrophe.
"Won't" and "wont" are not the same word. While "won't" means "will not," the word "wont" means a person's habit.
"It was Zoey's wont to fire readily at zombies. You won't find any teeth marks in her."
"Can't" and "cant" are not the same word. "Can't" is a contraction of "can not," but "cant" means a number of things from the particular speech of a group to an angled movement.
"A patient in a neck brace can't cant his head."
"We'll" and "well" draw a more obvious contrast. "We will" does not mean the same thing as well, a word with many meanings.
"Well, we'll see about fixing the well, but we'll need a few materials."
While "it's" means "it is," "its' " isn't even a word. If you aren't sure whether you should be using "its" or "it's," try replacing the word with "it is." Because "its" already indicates possession, like his and hers, using an apostrophe only relates to a contraction.
"It's a shame that it's so difficult to condense so many rules into one post. For more information, you should check out the AP Stylebook. Editors have been using its advice for decades."
Finally, never use an apostrophe to indicate more than one of something. Plural words will either change entirely or end with an "s."
"Using commas correctly can be difficult, but apostrophes are a little easier."
"Remember when your editors turned into cats? Do you think we fooled anyone?"
If there's a topic you want addressed, feel free to leave a comment below or email us at mail@textbroker.com.
posted on 05/14/2010 - 07.08 | grammar and style | comments: 22
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"Remember when your editors turned into cats? Do you think we fooled anyone?"
WHAT??????? You mean the cats are not real???????????
=)added by: author Cat Lady on 05/17/2010 - 05.24
"It was Zoey's wont to fire readily at zombies. You won't find any teeth marks in her."
Wait, what? I detect a "Left 4 Dead" reference!added by: author saurus on 05/17/2010 - 05.46
What?? You mean if I just got a tinfoil hat, I wouldn't still be waiting for my level 5 upgrade?? NOW you tell me! ROFLadded by: author Rosa Lyn on 05/17/2010 - 06.32
The girl's ball smashed through Neal's tinfoil hat. It's very obvious that a tinfoil hat is its own worst enemy.
Heh.
Thanks Keira. I miss my almost daily e-mails from you, but this blogpost more than made up for that.
"Wink wink, nudge nudge, say no more!"
Nealadded by: author Neal on 05/17/2010 - 07.21
I would like one of Neil's ('s for a possessive s) hats. Where to you get them?added by: author A-038785 on 05/17/2010 - 08.29
Keira -- or anyone -- can you talk about using apostrophes for pluralizing numbers, letters or even a range of years in a decade (example below). I always get confused.
Do I say a report card had three A's and two B's?
Can I say three articles earned 4's on the rating system?
Can I refer to the eighties as 80's.. .or just 80s.
Thanks for any clarification.added by: author Synthia on 05/18/2010 - 11.24
Huh. I think the calibration might still be a bit off. I'm rather afraid that all the other tin foil hats in the room might be interfering with my transmission. Maybe I just need to make the cone a bit pointier. But, then again, if it causes balls to be thrown at my head....I'm not so sure about Neal's strategy.
(I almost replaced that with "more pointy", but I just wasn't feeling it. LOL)
:Dadded by: author Rosa Lyn on 05/18/2010 - 11.56
@Synthia -
Using apostrophes for pluralizing numbers is one of those small little things that I always forget the rule on. I'm sure Keira or any of the other editors can attest to that.
Here's the rule from http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp
The plurals for capital letters and numbers used as nouns are not formed with apostrophes.
Examples:
She consulted with three M.D.s.
BUT
She went to three M.D.s' offices.
The apostrophe is needed here to show plural possessive.
She learned her ABCs.
the 1990s
not the 1990's
the '90s or the mid-'70s
not the '90's or the mid-'70's
She learned her times tables for 6s and 7s.
Exception: Use apostrophes with capital letters and numbers when the meaning would be unclear otherwise.
Examples: Please dot your i's.
You don't mean "is".
Ted couldn't distinguish between his 6's and 0's.
You need to use the apostrophe to indicate the plural of zero or it will look like the word Os. To be consistent within a sentence, you would also use the apostrophe to indicate the plural of 6's.
===========
So, now that I've muddied things up, happy writing!
@Rosa Lyn - Ummmm... pointy cone? You have a deprecated version. You need to adjust it to look more like a Yarmulke. However, if you want the best reception you can adjust the point by adding more tinfoil in more of a spiral shape, but this makes you look like a Teletubby.
Nealadded by: author Neal on 05/18/2010 - 04.45
Neal: Thanks so much for the rules about plurals of numbers and capital letters. That is the way I thought it should be, but the apostrophe is so ubiquitous in those contexts that I had given up.
Also, regarding the first post from author A-000540, I think it works better the other way: "It's" doesn't own anything.
Cecilyadded by: author A-034401 on 05/18/2010 - 08.17
Thank you so much for your blog posts! I've been looking for an easy punctuation reference. Your explanations are clear and easy to understand. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!added by: author A-009114 on 05/19/2010 - 12.06
Does this content really warrant an article/post?
If anyone wishes to claim any degree of professional writing ability--any whatsoever--has no excuse to not have an equal or greater grasp of the concepts than the article illustrates.
Or is it true that people have really asked about this?
It'd only have been made interesting had it brought in the ambiguity with the plural of "it" being "its", otherwise it simply addresses issues that should have been weeded out in public schooling.
Credit where credit is due, however, most people are unaware of a few definitions presented, but this fails to really save this at all.
The follow-ups to this article are far more informative and useful than the article itself, so good on the rest of you.added by: author A-016959 on 05/20/2010 - 01.20
@ A-016959
It's easy to criticize behind the mask of anonymity, isn't it? Perhaps not everyone here is claiming any "degree of professional writing ability". Maybe this is a second form of income for them. They are filling a niche. Maybe they happen to enjoy writing, but don't quite have the level of polish that others may have.
While I understand your position that apostrophes are relatively simple, why do you find it necessary to put down the author of this post by stating something as inane as "Does this content really warrant an article/post?"
Perhaps some of the writers here at Textbroker are using this to supplement their retirement and the lessons taught in primary school have sat for a bit and it takes an article like this to help remove a bit of the rust and get the gears moving again. You might also consider that there are level 2, 3 and 4 authors who wish to improve their skills. Apostrophes can be a bit of a stumbling block for people if they're just starting out.
So, does this content warrant an article post? I'd say that based on the comments here in this forum that it does. I'd also say that based on the questions asked (questions that may have never been asked had this article not been posted) and the following discussions that it was a good topic.
Of course, someone as professionally adept as you wouldn't have to read this article, much less deign to step down to our unprofessional level and respond to it... oh wait, you did. Nevermind.
Keep this in mind: Writing can be an arduous and demanding task. Details like commas and apostrophes and tenses and all that can be rather daunting to new writers as well as those who are just getting back into it. If not for the articles about "simple" issues such as apostrophes, we might never get to the much more "professional" stuff like gerunds.
For the record, your backhanded compliment to the people responding to this blog post was at the expense of the author of the post and it was unprofessional and downright idiotic.
Nealadded by: author Neal on 05/20/2010 - 05.32
Also, my apologies. I stated You might also consider that there are level 2, 3 and 4 authors who wish to improve their skills. I should add that there are also level 5 authors who wish to improve theirs as well. Mea Culpa.
Nealadded by: author Neal on 05/20/2010 - 06.00
@ A-016959 - Just out of curiosity, can you have a plural form of "it"? Unless you have some weird sentence... something like: One can never have too many its, can one? But in most cases, "its" does not refer to the plural form of "it" as you pointed out. "Its" refers to the possessive form of "it".
There's a saying about throwing stones in a glass house. Consider yours shattered.
Neal
added by: author Neal on 05/21/2010 - 04.52
Neal,
"A-016959 - Just out of curiosity, can you have a plural form of "it"? Unless you have some weird sentence... "
LOL!!!
I'd sort of like a blog post on the differences between "plurals", "possessives" and "contractions".
;)
~Jupiter (who has to stop to think and remember that the apostrophy with "it" ONLY happens when "it's" [literally in this case, lol] a contraction, and who a while back was a three star writer who had managed to completely forget that the posessive of "who" was an obscure word spelled "whose" and not "who's". Thank you tb editors for reminding me. :) )added by: author Jupiter on 05/23/2010 - 09.35
This blog is so helpful!
Also, there are some very helpful tips from authors in here.
Thanks to everyone! :-)
Have a great and safe weekend for Memorial Day!
Blessings,
Mary-Anneadded by: author Maryanne on 05/28/2010 - 10.14
LOL Neal. I haven't had a chance to get back to this post until now. Apparently, despite not adjusting the hat to a Teletubby-like appearance, it worked! I got the promotion just a day or so after and have been raking in those 5-stars ever since! Thanks for the tips. ;)
Regardless of how "skilled" any particular writer is, there is always a need to focus on the basics. I well remember the first article I had sent back for grammar mistakes. Imagine my horror to realize that I had done the faux pas of substituting "it's" for "its". THAT mistake has never happened again. After several dozen of those, either caught by myself or clients, I get it right most of the time. I started out in this field with a fairly firm grasp of language skills, but we all have our weak spots.added by: author Rosa Lyn on 06/04/2010 - 04.24
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