Apostrophe         

                                 University of Louisville

Apostrophe

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Use apostrophe as a possessive marker (to show ownership)

v  Use ’s if the  noun is singular:

      Dog’s tail                     Barthes’s bald head

v  Use only (’) after the plural noun ending in s:

       Cowboys’ hats            three universities’ names           

    BUT     !     Use’s after the plural nouns ending in other letters:

       Children’s books         mice’s burrows

v  Use ’s after the last word if the noun is made up of more than one word:

       Brother-in-law’s joke              passer-by’s backpack

v  Use ’s after the last noun if two or more people own something together:

       Gerry and Terry’s fun house   

       Tim and Kim’s freaky children                        

     BUT       ! Use ’s after each noun if something is individually owned:

       Surf’s and Dwarf’s canoes                  Ruby’s and Gem’s apartments

·        Use apostrophe (’) to show omission of a letter or letters

       I’ll = I will                                ’90 = 1990

      O’clock = of the clock  who’s = who is

       It’s = it is                                 can’t = cannot

·        Use apostrophe as a plural marker

v  Use ’s to change the letters of the alphabets, abbreviations with periods, and numbers into plurals:

        Four B’s                    some Ph.D.’s in the class

       1950’s                        lucky 7’s         

BUT    !     If you are using MLA style, note that apostrophe is not necessary to mark     plural in such cases; for example:

    PhDs                  BAs                 1970s               threes

·        Confused apostrophes

v  Do not use an apostrophe for possessive pronouns:

       Its (not it’s; for example: its pedals, not it’s pedals)

       His (not he’s; for example: his notebook, not he’s notebook)

       Yours (not your’s; for example: yours sincerely, not your’s sincerely)

       Ours (not our’s; for example: the books are ours, not our’s)

v  Do not use an apostrophe to make a noun plural:

       The drunkards entered the wrong home.

       (not the drunkard’s entered the wrong home.)

        The boys started dancing with the mannequins.

        (not the boy’s started dancing with the mannequins.)

v     Do not use an apostrophe to make a verb singular:

        Saloni grimaces her face while eating cheese.

        (not Saloni grimace’s her face while eating cheese.)

        Captain Rob welcomes you to the Writing Center.

        (not Captain Rob welcome’s you to the Writing Center.)

v     Do not use a singular noun after the plural-marking apostrophe:

         The firefighters’ masks (not the firefighters’ mask)

          Two girls’ love letters (not two girls’ love letter)

v      Do not use an apostrophe with an inanimate object:

          Roof of the house (not house’s roof)

          Leg of the chair (not the chair’s leg)  

BUT    !    You can use apostrophe with time, place, and idiomatic expressions:

          Three days’ leave                 Louisville’s Cardinals

           At a stone’s throw               at his wits’ end