Common Apostrophe Errors
The Most Common Mistakes
- Mixing up it's and its
- Wrong: The dog wagged it's tail.
- Right: The dog wagged its tail.
- Wrong: Each program has it's own quirks.
- Right: Each program has its own quirks.
- Pluralizing words with apostrophes
- Wrong: Piano's for Sale!
- Right: Pianos for Sale!
- Wrong: I design web site's.
- Right: I design web sites.
- Using improper contractions
- Wrong: Your going to be in trouble.
- Right: You're going to be in trouble.
- Wrong: He let's his son run wild.
- Right: He lets his son run wild.
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Other Apostrophe Issues Explained
- Is it the men's room or the mens room?
- You'll see it both ways on restroom doors, but since it is possessive (the restroom of the men), it needs an apostrophe.
- Is it the ladies room, the lady's room, or the ladies' room?
- Ladies room is not possessive, so it is not technically correct.
- Lady's room is okay if there is only one lady that uses it; lady is singular and the 's makes it possessive: A lady lives here. This is her room. It is the lady's room.
- Ladies' room is correct: plural and possessive.
- How about ladie's room? NO! TOTALLY WRONG! DON'T BE AN IDIOT!
- How do I make names that end in s plural?
- DO NOT ADD AN APOSTROPHE!
- The Smith family = the Smiths
- The Jones family = the Joneses (Add -es to pluralize words that
already end in s; the same is true with family names.)
- Notice: NO APOSTROPHES ARE NEEDED TO PLURALIZE NAMES!
- How do I make plural names possessive?
- Follow the same rules for other possessive plurals: an apostrophe after the final s.
- A house owned by all the Smiths is the Smiths' house.
- A car owned by all the Joneses is the Joneses' car.
- A dog owned by the Garn family is the Garns' dog.
- What about singular names that end in s?
- Treat them the same as any other singular word: add 's to make them possessive.
- James has a web page, so it is James's web page.
- Charles has a computer; it is Charles's computer.
- Travis has a cow that we call Travis's cow.
- Many people still place the apostrophe after the final s in names like this, but that is not the accepted standard.
- To make a singular word possessive, just add 's.
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Some Practice
- 1. Which of the following sentences correctly uses the apostrophe?
- A. The Prestons have four girls in their family.
- B. The Preston's have four girls in their family.
- C. The Prestons' have four girls in their family.
- D. The Prestons have four girl's in their family.
- 2. Which of the following sentences correctly uses the apostrophe?
- A. Each computer has it's own quirks.
- B. Each computer has its own quirk's.
- C. Each computer has its' own quirks.
- D. Each computer has its own quirks.
- 3. Which of the following sentences correctly uses the apostrophe?
- A. Your not going to finish these assignments.
- B. You're not going to finish these assignments.
- C. You're not going to finish these assignment's.
- D. Your not going to finish these assignments'.
- 4. Which of the following sentences correctly uses the apostrophe?
- A. Elvises' antics offended the Taggart's.
- B. Elvis's antics offended the Taggarts'.
- C. Elvis's antics offended the Taggarts.
- D. Elvis' antics offended the Taggarts.
Answers
1. The Prestons have four girls in their family. (A)
No word in this sentence is possessive, so no apostrophes are needed anywhere.
2. Each computer has its own quirks. (D)
Its is the possessive form of
it. Remember: This is the exception to the rule.
3. You're not going to finish these assignments. (B)
The apostrophe in
you're forms a contraction of
you are. The word
assignments is not possessive, so it doesn't need an apostrophe.
4. Elvis's antics offended the Taggarts. (C)
Elvis is singular, so you just add
's to make it possessive (even though it ends in
s). The Taggarts is not possessive, so it requires no apostrophe.
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