We will now examine apostrophes, composing the final section of this punctuation module. Apostrophes have two main uses:
– To show possession
– To indicate a contraction.
To complete this section, review each of the tabbed areas below and complete the Apostrophes Self Check at the end.
Apostrophes are used to indicate possession. Possession is just what it sounds like: showing that something belongs to someone (or something) else. Here is a simple example:
The manager’s responsibility is to oversee his employees.
The word following the apostrophe s is the thing being possessed. The word containing the apostrophe s is the someone or something doing the possessing. In this case, the manager possesses responsibility; or conversely, responsibility is possessed by the manager.
The following presentation will review further details of apostrophe usage for possession.
Carefully review the presentation below. Core details on the above content are explained in further detail, along with relevant examples.
For singular possession—that is, one person or thing doing the possessing–the apostrophe goes before the “s.”
The coach’s office is on the third floor.
The sentence above refers to the office of one coach.
For plural possession—that is, two or more persons or things doing the possession–the apostrophe goes after the “s”:
The coaches’ office is on the third floor.
In this case, it is the office of several coaches, and the apostrophe goes after the “s.”
Whereas nouns (like manager) use apostrophes to show possession, pronouns do not use apostrophes. Instead, pronouns have specific designated forms to show possession. As a refresher, below is a list of pronouns with their corresponding possessive form:
| Pronoun Posessive Form |
| I, My [dog] |
| We, Our [cat] |
| He, His [zebra] |
| She, Her [giraffe] |
| They, Their [peacock] |
| It, Its [feathers] |
Apostrophes are also used in contractions. For those of you who don’t recall from school, a contraction is simply a word made by shortening and combining two words. Here are common contractions you’ll recognize.
| can’t | hasn’t |
| won’t | you’re |
| don’t | they’re |
| shouldn’t | doesn’t |
| wouldn’t | wasn’t |
As you can see, an apostrophe indicates that a letter or letters have been deleted. Can’t is a contraction of cannot; won’t is a contraction of will not; shouldn’t is a contraction of should not; and so on.
Now that we’ve reviewed contractions, it’s important to note that in formal writing, it is best NOT to use contractions. Contractions are generally reserved for informal writing only.
The following presentation will address two special contractions that often confuse writers, namely its and it’s, and who’s and whose.
Carefully review the presentation below. Core details on the above content are explained in further detail, along with relevant examples.
We will first address the common conundrum of its versus it’s.
Its (I-T-S, no apostrophe) is a possessive pronoun. The word is similar to his, hers, and ours, except that its refers to an object or animal showing possession, not a person.
The bird broke its wing when it flew into a window.
On the other hand, it’s is a contraction for it is.
It’s clear that the board does not understand the policy.
This could also be written without the contraction, as such:
It is clear that the board does not understand the policy.
The easiest way to determine whether its or it’s is correct in any given situation is to see if you can substitute “it is” in place of the term. If the sentence makes sense with “it is,” then it’s with an apostrophe is correct; if not, then its is correct. Here are two examples:
After the board altered its policy, liquidity increased.
[Substituting “it is” doesn’t make sense, so “its” is correct.]
It’s going to take several years for the economy to recover.
[Substituting “it is” makes sense, so “it’s” is correct.]
At times, writers also confuse the contraction who’s with whose.
Who’s is a contraction of who is that appears in questions. Here is an example:
Who is on first?
Who’s on first?
Alternately, whose is the possessive form of who or which.
Stalin, whose regime murdered thousands of political prisoners, is considered a tyrant even by the Russian people.
Here, whose is referring to Stalin and is possessing the word regime.
Similar to figuring out whether its or it’s is correct, you can also replace who’s with who is to determine whether or not it’s correct. If the sentence makes sense with “who is,” then who’s with an apostrophe is correct; if not, then whose is correct. Here are two examples:
Who’s in charge of the audit?
Who is in charge of the audit?
[Substituting “who is” makes sense, so this is correct.]
Who’s chair is that?
Who is chair is that?
[Substituting “who is” does not make sense, so whose is correct.]
Now that we’ve reviewed contractions, it’s important to note that in business writing, it is best NOT to use contractions. Contractions are generally reserved for informal writing only.
As a quick recap, apostrophes are used for the following purposes:
– To show possession
– To indicate a contraction.
The former of the two will be more relevant to the type of business writing you will do. Complete the following self-check to test your knowledge of what we’ve reviewed in this section.
