Apostrophes for ownership

An Apostrophe to Show Ownership

An apostrophe and the letter s are used to show ownership.

When using an apostrophe for ownership, the first thing to consider is whether there is one owner (a singular owner) or more than one owner (a plural owner). This determines the position of the apostrophe. Here are some examples with the owners highlighted:

• The boy's den. 
(With one boy, the apostrophe is placed before the s. In other words, you have to add 's.)
• The boys' den. 
(With more than one boy, the apostrophe is placed after the s. In other words, add just '. Remember, the s will already be there.)

With a Singular Owner, the Apostrophe Is Placed before the S

When the owner is singular, add 's. For example:

• Wagner's music is better than it sounds.  (Mark Twain)
• A friend's eye is a good mirror. 

With a Plural Owner, the Apostrophe Is Placed after the S

When the owner is plural, add ' after the s. For example:

• The dogs' dinner smells better than ours. 
• The ladies' mobile phones were confiscated until after the show. 

Plural Nouns Not Ending S (Exception 1)

For plural words that do not end s (e.g., children, people, women), add 's (as though they were singular). For example:

• Zeus does not bring all men's plans to fulfilment.  (Homer, 800-700 BC)
• All television is children's television.  (Richard P. Adler)

Singular Nouns Ending S (Exception 2)

For singular words that end s (e.g., Dickens, series, Moses), add ' or 's. (You have a choice.) For example:

• Wells's report was shockingly bad. 
• Wells' report was shockingly bad. 

Useful guideline: Write it how you would say it. If you would say Wellsiz report, use Wells's. If you would say Wells report, use Wells'.

Compound Nouns (Exception 3)

For compound nouns (e.g., brother-in-law), add 's to the end regardless of whether it is singular or plural. For example:

• My brother-in-law's help was essential. 
(This is help from one brother-in-law.)
• My brothers-in-law's help was essential. 
(This is help from brothers-in-law, i.e., more than one brother-in-law.)

Apostrophes with Joint and Individual Ownership (A Quirk)

For joint ownership, make just the last word in the series possessive. For individual ownership, make all parts possessive. For example:

• Peter and Paul's factories 
(For joint ownership, only the last part is possessive.) 


• Peter's and Paul's factories 
(For individual ownership, all parts are possessive.)
(Without context, it will be assumed that Peter has one factory and Paul has one factory. Another construction is required if this is not the case: "Peter's factories and Paul's factories" is one option.)

Overview of apostrophes

The Rules on When to Use Apostrophes

The rules on using apostrophes can be summarised:

• To replace missing letters
aren't
isn't
can't


• To show possession
Sarah's jumper
The dog's toy
The dogs' kennel


• In temporal (or time) expressions
3 months' wages
A day's leave
2 days' notice


• To show the plural of an awkward abbreviation, letter or number
BUY THREE CD'S.
Mind your p's and q's.
Your 5's look like 6's.

Unless it is covered by one of the categories above, an apostrophe should not be used.

The Most Common Mistake with Apostrophes

Lots of words in English end in the letter s. This happens for one of three reasons:

• It's a plural (e.g., cats, houses, dreams).
• It's a verb ending (e.g., he flies, she bakes, it likes).
• It's a singular noun that ends in s (e.g., Wales, crisis, humous).

You will notice that not one of the examples in the three bullets above has an apostrophe in it. This is correct. Do not add an apostrophe to a word just because it ends in s. That is a serious mistake.

Examples:

• Anteater's prefer termite's to ant's. 
• Anteaters prefer termites to ants. 
• Pearl's melt in vinegar. 
• Pearls melt in vinegar. 
• She flie's to New York tomorrow. 
• She flies to New York tomorrow. 
• Will you see Charle's after this meeting? 
• Will you see Charles after this meeting? 

The plurals of words ending in vowels (e.g., video, patio) are extremely prone to this error.

• Hire two video's for the price of three. 
• Hire two videos for the price of three. 

Putting an apostrophe before the s in the plural word is a very common mistake and is considered a grammatical howler.

Apostrophes in contractions

An apostrophe can be used to form a contraction, which is an abbreviated version of a word or words. Here are two common contractions:

• Isn't
(In this contraction, the apostrophe replaces the o of not, and the words is and not are joined to form a single word.)
• Can't
(In this contraction, the apostrophe replaces the no of cannot.)

Contractions with Apostrophes Are Common in Informal Writing

Contractions with apostrophes are not common in formal writing. Contractions are generally reserved for informal writing as they are used to reflect how people speak.

Examples of Contractions with Apostrophes

Here are some more examples of contractions with apostrophes:

• If you don't fail now and again, it's a sign you're playing it safe.  (Woody Allen)
• Don't look now, but there's one too many in this room, and I think it's you.  (Groucho Marx)

Apostrophe misuse

Below are the most common misuses of apostrophes.

Do Not Use an Apostrophe to Form a Plural Noun

Do not use an apostrophe to form a plural. (It is considered a serious misuse of the apostrophe.) For example:

• Dog's look up to us, and cat's look down on us. I prefer pig's because they treat us as equal's. 
(These are all wrong.)
• Dogs look up to us, and cats look down on us. I prefer pigs because they treat us as equals. 

This error is particularly prevalent with abbreviations or when the singular version of the noun ends in a vowel.

• Two CD's for the price of one 
• two video's 
• two patio's 

When an apostrophe is misused in this way, it is known as a greengrocers' apostrophe. This terms comes from the tendency of greengrocers to misuse apostrophes on their signs (e.g., apple's, banana's).

When Using an Apostrophe for Possession, Put It on the Correct Side of the S

Here are some examples of apostrophes being misused for possession:

• My smallest dogs' nose is white. 
• Both of my dog's noses are white. 
• Support our childrens' education. 

The big question with an apostrophe used for possession is whether to put your apostrophe before the s or after the s.

Here's the general rule:

If the possessor is singular, the apostrophe goes before the s.
If the possessor is plural, the apostrophe goes after the s.

Here are some examples:

• The cat's dinner  (for one cat)
• The cats' dinner  (for more than one cat)

The possessor is the thing that owns whatever follows. In the first example, the possessor is cat. In the second, it is cats. (Be aware that the word owns is used in a very loose sense. The possessive apostrophe is not always about possession or ownership.) 

Unfortunately, there are several exceptions to the rule regarding a singular and plural possessor. For example:

If a plural noun does not end in s (e.g., children, people), then the apostrophe comes before the s in the possessive form (e.g., children's, people's).

If a singular noun ends in s (e.g., Jones, Moses), then the possessive form can be shown by adding just s or 's (e.g., Jones' or Jones's, Moses' or Moses's).

Do Not Invent Your Own Contractions

Apostrophes can be used to replace letters to form contractions (e.g., can't, don't, isn't, shan't). There is a list of acceptable contractions. You cannot invent your own ones. For example:

• Can you play the g'tar? 

When Forming a Contraction, Put the Apostrophe in the Right Place

When forming a contraction, make sure you use the apostrophe to replace the missing letter(s). It's not a common mistake, but it's a bad mistake. For example:

• Your answer is'nt accurate. 

Apostrophes in names

No Apostrophe in the Plural of a Name

Do not use an apostrophe to form the plural of a name. For example:

• The Smith's are in town. 
(Smiths )
• Did you visit the Ford's yesterday? 
(Fords )
• The Bates's will attend the party. 
(Bateses )
• Can you ask the Alverez's to move their cars? 
(Alverezes )

For the Possessive Case, Treat a Plural Name Like Any Other Plural Noun

When an apostrophe is needed to show the possessive form of a plural family name (e.g., Smiths, Fords, Bateses, Alverezes), the name is treated just like any other plural noun that ends in s. For example:

• The Smiths' cat has gone missing. 
(Smiths' is the possessive form of the plural proper noun Smiths.)
• Have you seen the Fords' new car? 
(Fords' is the possessive form of Fords.)
• The Bateses' holiday was ruined by the weather. 
(Bateses' is the possessive form of Bates.)
• Take these scones to the Alverezes' house. 
(Alverezes' is the possessive form of Alverezes.)

Remember, to form the plural of any ending s or z, add -es. Once you have done that, apply the normal rules to create the possessive form.