HOW TO CORRECTLY USE APOSTROPHES By Mrs. Goldberg

First, let’s look at where apostrophes DO NOT go:  When making something plural (rose’s should be roses)  When using a possessive pronoun (her’s should be hers)  When using the word its as a possessive (Every dog has its day, NOT Every dog has it’s day)

Next, let’s look at where apostrophes SHOULD go:  First, you should use an apostrophe when using a contraction (two words shortened and connected):  Examples: let’s, don’t, can’t, etc.  NOTE: The apostrophe is always placed at the spot where the letter was removed.

Possession  We use apostrophes to show possession.  Examples: Mrs. Goldberg’s son, Kyle’s mohawk  If it is a single person who is possessing the item, the apostrophe goes before the “s”  You do not have to put an apostrophe after a word that ends in S (like Thomas’s notebook) but most English teachers still like to see it there

Plural possession  If a group owns the item, make the noun plural first, then add the apostrophe at the end:  Two boys’ hats  The Moormans’ house

A final rule about plural possession  If two people own the SAME item, you only need an apostrophe after the second name  Oscar and Marvin’s paper (they both worked on one paper, as when you work in a group)  If two people have a DIFFERENT item, you must add an apostrophe to both  Oscar’s and Marvin’s grades

It’s and its  This is one of the biggest mistakes that people make with apostrophes  It’s is a contraction and is short for “it is.”  Its is a possessive pronoun and does not need an apostrophe  Like the “Every dog has its day” that I mentioned earlier

A final note  I hope that all of you have learned many thing’s about apostrophe’s today. That was the goal of todays’s class. Its not an easy concept to master, but I think with some practice sentence’s that you will understand the concept’s better.  P.S. There were six apostrophe mistakes in the note above. Can you find them?