APOSTROPHES CAN BE SO POSSESSIVE

By

Ray Villareal

I tell my students that they don’t need to be accurate to communicate. They need to be accurate to be respected.—Zoe Morosini

Can you spot the mistakes in these professionally made business signs?

Car wash: Clean Bed’s Before Entering

Hardware store: Water Heater’s for Sale

Restaurant: Wed. Night Kid’s Eat Free

Convenience store: Open Sunday’s

Department store: Gift’s For Grad’s

School marquee: Thank You Teacher’s!

           

If you caught the errors, then you know the words with apostrophes are plural nouns and should not have an apostrophe. But many people aren’t sure what to do when they write a word that ends with an s.

An apostrophe is used for two general purposes: to form a possessive noun or nouns, and to take the place of letters in contractions.

A possessive noun shows ownership. If the noun is singular, an apostrophe and an s are added.

Bob’s car is parked on the street.

I went to my cousin’s birthday party.

The lizard’s tail broke off.

The magazine’s cover is torn.

The class’s schedule is posted outside the room.

If the noun is plural and ends with an s, only an apostrophe is added.

The girls’ soccer uniforms are being washed.

The caretaker changed the babies’ diapers.

The bushes’ flowers have begun to bloom.

The countries’ presidents held a summit meeting.

The books’ pages had yellowed.

A plural noun indicates more than one person, place, thing, or idea. If the word is not possessive, and ends with an s, no apostrophe is used.

Where did the boys say they were going?

The houses on that street have been painted white.

The cats toppled the garbage can.

Don’t forget to make your beds before you leave.

Do you have plans for dinner tonight?

Before adding an apostrophe to a noun, ask yourself: Does the following word belong to the noun? If it doesn’t, skip the apostrophe.

**********

Write correct if the answer is correct. Write incorrect if the answer is incorrect.

1. Place cigarette butt’s in here. __________
2. Carlos’s backpack is in his locker.__________
3. The girl’s sat together in the cafeteria.__________
4. The girls stayed after school for volleyball practice.__________
5. The girls’ names are Martha, Liz, and Ana.__________
6. Those dog’s don’t have ID tags. __________
7. Have you fed the cats?__________
8. My twin brothers don’t look alike.__________
9. Jennifer’s mom brought cupcakes to school.__________
10. Please wipe your shoe’s on the mat before you come inside.__________

Answer Key

1. Carlos’s backpack is in his locker. (correct)
2. The boy’s sat together in the cafeteria. (incorrect)
3. The girls stayed after school for volleyball practice. (correct)
4. The girls’ names are Martha, Liz, and Ana. (correct)
5. Those dog’s don’t have ID tags. (incorrect)
6. Have you fed the cats? (correct)
7. My twin brothers don’t look alike. (correct)
8. Jennifer’s mom brought cupcakes to school. (correct)
9. Please wipe your shoe’s on the mat before you come inside. (incorrect)