English Grammar
APOSTROPHES
The correct use of apostrophes in English.
Apostrophes in English are used for possession and contraction.
They are not used to form plurals.
POSSESSION :
Apostrophes are used to indicate possession in nouns (but not in pronouns: hers, ours, theirs....).
Apostrophes are used to indicate missing letters in contractions.
For example:
Apostrophes are sometimes mistakenly used in plurals.
Remember: if there is no possession or contraction, there is no apostrophe.
The plural of most English nouns is formed by adding s or es.
There is no apostrophe in the plural of family names (to refer to the whole family).
An apostrophe is used only to indicate possession.
To make a number plural we simply add an s. We do not add an apostrophe.
They are not used to form plurals.
POSSESSION :
Apostrophes are used to indicate possession in nouns (but not in pronouns: hers, ours, theirs....).
- The girl's bicycle.
- The bicycle is hers (not her's).
- John's car.
- James's guitar.
- My parents' house is near the coast.
- Visitors are not allowed into the students' rooms.
- Witches' hats are pointed.
- The children’s playground is beside the school.
Apostrophes are used to indicate missing letters in contractions.
For example:
- He's is a contracted form of he is.
- It's is a contracted form of it is.
- Its is a possessive pronoun like 'my', 'his', 'her', etc.
- The dog was chewing its toy.
It's (it is) its toy so that's (that is) ok. - Who's is a contracted form of who is.
- Who's (who is) the owner of the red car?
- Whose car was damaged during the storm?
Apostrophes are sometimes mistakenly used in plurals.
Remember: if there is no possession or contraction, there is no apostrophe.
The plural of most English nouns is formed by adding s or es.
- One fork, two forks (not two fork's).
- One inch, two inches.
- One spoonful of cream, two spoonfuls of cream (not two spoonful's).
- Remember to dot your i's and cross your t's.
- Mind your p’s and q’s!
There is no apostrophe in the plural of family names (to refer to the whole family).
An apostrophe is used only to indicate possession.
- The Windsors are coming for dinner.
- The blue car belongs to the Windsors. It's (it is) the Windsors' car.
To make a number plural we simply add an s. We do not add an apostrophe.
- The airline added three 747s to their fleet.
- The witness was a man in his 40s.
- The Beatles became famous in the 1960s.
- Jazz became very popular in the '30s.
- 2019 was our best year.
- 2019’s results were better than those of the previous years.