A quick guide to using apostrophes
Looks like: (‘)
This little punctuation mark can be used in different ways to convey different meanings:
- It can be used to represent missing letters;
- It can be used to show that something belongs to someone or something else; or
- It can be used to denote periods of time.
Examples where the apostrophe is used instead of letters:
- It is not on the table - becomes - It isn’t on the table or It's not on the table
- It is really warm today - becomes - It's really warm today
- I do not like that - becomes - I don’t like that
- I am late - becomes - I’m late
- Kim is early - becomes - Kim’s early
- I could not find him - becomes - I couldn’t find him.
Examples where the apostrophe is used to show that something belongs to someone or something:
- The man’s jacket is on the chair
- Kim’s project is one of the best
- The group’s work is excellent
- Tom’s market stall
- Voters’ rights.
Examples where the apostrophe is used to denote time:
- In a week’s time
- A day’s holiday
- Four days’ leave
- Three weeks’ notice.
Note: It’s is always short for ‘it is’ or ‘it has’. Where ‘its’ is used as a possessive pronoun (my, his, her, its, etc.) there should not be an apostrophe. For example:
- The cat sat on its mat
- The exhibit is in its case
- The child is sitting in its favourite chair
Jane Thomas
Milton Contact Ltd
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