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The use of the Apostrophe

The apostrophe (') is used to show that letters are missing. When we speak, we often shorten what we say by running letters together because it is easier to say. Here are some examples, I'm sure you are familiar with. This use of the apostrophe is often called contraction. The apostrophe shows the missing letter o in each of the examples above. This form of contraction is associated with speech, and is not usually used in formal written language, although this rule seems more relaxed these days.

Exercise
Write out the contracted form of each of the following. Be careful to place the apostrophe in the right place.
  1. could not
  2. should not
  3. shall not
  4. might not
  5. dare not
  6. they are
  7. we are
  8. I am
  9. she is
  10. over (often used in old-fashioned poetry)
Can you think why contraction is often used in poetry? Clue:- think of the number of syllables.

You may have been taught before that the apostrophe not only shows missing letters, but also possession, as in Peter's book.

This is true, and not quite true. Yes, the apostrophe is used to show possession, but not for that reason. It shows possession only becuase it shows a missing letter. This will become important later on.

Why is this so? In Old English (Anglo-Saxon) spoken about a thousand years ago, English was like many languages today in that the form of the word changed according to its role in the sentence. We still have this with pronouns in modern English. Look at the following table:

Role in sentence Singular Plural
Nominative (subject of the sentence) he we
Accusative (object of the sentence) him them
Genitive (indicates possession) his their
Ablative (by, with, from ....) him them
You will notice that when he is the subject of the sentence the form of the word is "he", but when he is the object of the sentence, the word changes form to "him", as in "He hit him".

English used to have far more of this. Each noun had separate forms showing what its role in the sentence was. English has lost most of these declensions now, but what languages do you know which still work this way?

In Old English the most common ending to show possession (genitive), was to add -es to the root of the word. Here are some examples: I'm sure you can see how the genitive case has survived in modern English. We no longer use the -es ending to show possession, but we do use the 's ending. The apostrophe replaces the missing letter e!

Not every genitive (possessive) word had an -es ending in Anglo-Saxon, but most did, and so 's became the way to indicate possession.

Execrcise
Complete the following table to show how other pronoun forms change according to their role in the sentence.

Role in sentence She It You
Nominative (subject of the sentence)      
Accusative (object of the sentence)      
Genitive (possession)      
Ablative (by, with, from ...)      


Because the pronouns still change form in English, they do not use the apostrophe and the -es ending to show possession. This is why his and its are written without apostrophes.

Some names present problems because they do not sound very pretty if we add 's to them because the word already contains more than one "s". We can say James's bed, and Lewis's pen without breaking a jaw, but Jesus's word or Masters's actions contain too many s's to sound well on the lisps, I mean lips. We therefore prefer to say Jesus' words and Masters' actions.

If a word ends in an s - add an 's as usual
but if the word already has an s elsewhere in the word, you may simply add an apostrophe.

The rules for using an apostrophe for plural possessive nouns is very simple, just add an apostrophe at the end of the word, after the plural "s". Where there is no plural "s", as in children, women, or oxen, simply add 's as in the singular.

Please note:- the apostrophe is never used in itself to show plurals!

Look at the following eaxamples:

Singular Plural
The boy's dog (one boy - one dog) The boys' dogs (five boys - five dogs)
The child's toy The children's toys
The cat's tail The cats' tails
The woman's car the women's cars
A friend's concern The friends' concerns


Exercise
Say whether the following apostrophes are used correctly or not. Simply write correct or Incorrect.
  1. The cat licked it's paw
  2. Trading in Marks & Spensers's shares have been frozen pending an investigation
  3. It's the right way to go about its business
  4. Banana's are in season right now
  5. The Mens' Finals at Wimbledon turned into a farce
  6. Petros's friends gave him a party
  7. The animals's names were written around their necks
  8. Hi's name is Frank
  9. The companies' licences have been revoked
  10. The seven king's set sail for France
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