Misplaced apostrophes
An apostrophe is merely a little piece of punctuation. Nevertheless, it is really noticeable when used incorrectly. We often notice mistakes with this tiny piece of punctuation in advertisements, signs and bill-boards. Apostrophes keep popping up as one of the worst culprits. Some people use an apostrophe to form the plural of a word, particularly if the word ends in a vowel, which might make the word look strange with an ‘s’ added to make it plural. Despite its notoriety, apostrophes are not really difficult to use once you know how. 1. Apostrophes indicate possession — something belonging to something or someone else.
(a) To indicate something belonging to one person, the apostrophe goes before the ‘-s’.
Example:
• These are the little boy’s toys.
(b) To indicate something belonging to more than one person, put the apostrophe after the ‘-s’. Example:
• Those are the little boys’ toys.
Apostrophes are also used to indicate a contracted word.
Examples:
•Do not = don’t
(“don’t” uses an apostrophe to indicate that the word is missing the “o” from “do not”)
• Cannot = can’t
Apostrophes are never used to make a word plural, even when a word is in number form, as in a date.
Examples:
• The cow’s are in the field (x)
• The cows are in the field (✓)
• Book’s for sale (x)
• Books for sale (✓)
• In the 60’s (x)
• In the 60s (✓)
• Ruhanas house is over there (x)
• Ruhana’s horse is over there (✓)
• The girls dresses are ready for them to collect (x)
• The girls’ dresses are ready for them to collect (✓)
In earlier rules, it is shown that apostrophes should be used to indicate possession. However, there is one exception to this rule, and that is the word “it”.
It is not a surprise that this exception makes many people confused. ‘It’s’ and ‘its’ are two of the most commonly confused words in the English language. However, understanding the difference between these two words is crucial for successful communication.
The rules:
1. It’s is a contraction for it is or it has.
Examples:
• I think it’s going to rain in a while. (It is)
• It’s been quite some time since I last saw you. (It has)
• It’s a small world after all. (It is) Their is a possessive pronoun. It is used when you want to show that something belongs to someone. Examples:
• Their new home is in Bukit Antarabangsa, Ulu Kelang.
• What is their phone number?
There is used to mean that something is at or in a particular place.
Examples:
• There is something on the table.
• Look, there is the ocean. Similarly, common confusion occurs when using your and you’re.
The rules:
1. Your indicates possession — something belonging to you.
You’re is short for “you are”.
Examples:
• Your beautiful (x)
• You’re beautiful (✓)
• Do you know when your coming over? (x)
• Do you know when you’re coming over? ( )
• Can I have one of you’re paper clips? (x)
• Can I have one of your paper clips? (✓)
Note: It is not advisable to use contractions in formal communication. This is because contractions add an informal tone to your writing, they are often inappropriate for academic research papers and other types of official correspondence.
Contractions can be used in any position in a sentence; however, homophone contractions such as “it’s” and “they’re” sound better when followed by another word or phrase. The reason is that the sounds of “its” and “it’s”, and “they’re” and “they are” are so similar that they can be confusing. An additional word at the end can make the meaning clearer.
Examples:
• It is what it’s. (x)
• It is what it is looking for. (
• It is what it is. (✓)
• You said they didn’t want to go, well, they’re. (x)
• You said they didn’t want to go, well, they’re going. (✓)
• You said they didn’t want to go, well, they are. (✓)