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Massey University > OWLL > Academic writing > Editing and proofreading > Apostrophes

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Apostrophes

Apostrophes are used for two reasons:

  • to show that letters have been left out of a word (omitted letters)
  • to show that something belongs to or is a part of something else (grammatical possession)

Apostrophes are not used

  • when referring to decades
    cross 1920's, 1850's
    tick 1920s, 1850s
  • when indicating more than one of something
    cross I like to eat tomato's
    tick I like to eat tomatoes
  • when showing grammatical possession for pronouns
    cross our's, your's, her's, it's
    tick ours, yours, hers, its

Omitted letters

Apostrophes are used to show where one or more letters have been removed (a contraction).

don't = do not
didn't = did not
won't = will not
I'll = I will
we'll = we will / we shall
I'd = I would / I had
you'd = you would / you had
it's = it is
can't = cannot
who's = who is

Grammatical possession

Possession means that one word belongs to or is a part of another word. You can indicate possession by adding 's to the end of the word:

Zhi's finger
The car's horn
The president's suit

Note: you do not use an apostrophe when showing possession for a pronoun, so ‘it's’ does not mean “belonging to it”:

its = belonging to it
it's = it is

Grammatical possession and plural words

If a word is plural, that is, there is more than one of the word, you usually add an s without an apostrophe:

student > students
girl > girls
boy > boys
dog > dogs

If you want to indicate possession at the same time, however, it's incorrect to add both the s and the 's (you end up sounding like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings):

cross The students's flat
cross All girls's uniforms
cross All boys's uniforms
cross The dogs's bones

Instead, the second s is deleted, leaving the apostrophe on the end of the word:

tick The students' flat
tick All girls' uniforms
tick All boys' uniforms
tick The dogs' bones

Irregular plurals

For some words you indicate more than one of a word without adding an s

child > children
man > men

In that case, to show possession you only need to add 's, because there's no second s to delete:

tick The children's toys
tick The men's names

Plurals ending ies

Some plural words end with ies:

country > countries
baby > babies
story > stories

In that case, to show possession you only need to add an apostrophe at the end of the word:

tick The countries' leaders
tick The babies' prams
tick The stories' endings

Page authorised by Director - Centre for Learner Success
Last updated on 12 December, 2018

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