English 9 (B)

Apostrophe

The apostrophe is a punctuation mark. In English it has two main functions: it marks omissions, and it assists in marking the possessives of nouns and some pronouns. Below are some examples:


Apostrophe showing possession:

• Jim's hair - the hair belonging to Jim
• cat's whiskers - the whiskers belonging to the cat
• sister's car - car belonging to the sister
• Mr. Jones's house - the house belonging to Mr. Jones

• The group brought its van.
• The book is hers.
• The book is Jim's.

• The group brought it's van.
• It is his' book.
• Its going to be a long day.

Apostrophe showing omission:

• Can't - from cannot
• I'll - from I will
• It's - from it is
• '70s - from 1970s
• 'twas - from it was
• gov't - from government

The following video explains the proper use of apostrophes: