1. Apostrophes 
Ms. Kiernan

3. What are their purposes?
To form a contraction
To show possession (ownership) of something
NOT TO SHOW A PLURAL!

4. Contractions
Contractions: Shortening two words into one with an apostrophe.
-Don’t (Do not)
-Won’t (Will not)
Should not be used in formal writing

5. Showing Possession (ownership)
If the word does not end in an ‘s,’ add an apostrophe + ‘s’ onto the end of the word.
Singular:
The boy’s dog
The car’s engine
Plural:
The men’s room
The children’s playground

6. Showing Possession (ownership)
If the word already ends in an ‘s,’ just add an apostrophe onto the end of the word. Don’t add an additional ‘s.’
Singular:
St. James’ church
Chris’ skateboard
Plural:
The students’ tests (all of the students’ tests)
The teachers’ lessons (all of the teachers’ lessons)

7. Showing possession (ownership)
If the names of two or more persons are used to show joint ownership, give only the last name the possessive form.
Mark and Maria’s party (one party for both Mark and Maria)
If the names of two or more persons are used to show separate ownership, give each name the possessive form.
Peter’s and Robert’s sneakers (Peter’s sneakers and Robert’s sneakers)

8. Tricky Terms It’s = contraction for “it is” or “it has”
The sun is shining; it’s very bright outside.
Its (no apostrophe) = possession
The sun is shining; its light is very bright.

9. Tricky Terms Who’s = Who is Who’s there? Whose = Possessive
Whose bike is that?

10. Tricky Terms
Do not use an apostrophe to form the plural of dates, such as decades and centuries.
Correct: 1900s
Incorrect: 1900’s

11. One Exception…
Apostrophes can be used to show the plural of individual letters or numbers.
My last name is spelled with three M’s.
There are two 5’s in my phone number.

12. Practice
Page 244, #1-4, 6-7, 9-10
Identify and correct errors in the use of apostrophes. Rewrite each word with the correct apostrophe usage.
Each sentence will contain at least one error.