Apostrophes Show Ownership

Tips on using apostrophes properly

Oct 8, 2006 Kimberly Dawn Wells

Apostrophes can be tricky if you're not sure how to make a plural noun or compound pronoun possessive. Here are some tips.

The main purpose of an apostrophe is to show ownership or possession of an object. This isn't as easy as it sounds. The English language is full of strange words that end in 's' or 'z' sounds, and tricky pronouns. How do you know which apostrophe situation is appropriate?

In most other languages, ownership and possession is stated by saying:

• the car of my mother
• the skin of the grapefruit
• the girlfriend of Jim

In English we use apostrophes and the letter "s" in different combinations to do this:

• my mother's car
• the grapefruit's skin
• Jim's girlfriend

To show ownership of a singular noun, add 's.

• chair becomes chair's, as in the chair's legs
• Lola becomes Lola's, as in Lola's tooth
• cart becomes cart's, as in the cart's wheels

To show ownership of a plural noun, add an apostrophe at the end of the word.

• gardens becomes gardens', to show that something belongs to the gardens
• kids becomes kids', to show that something belongs to the kids
• forests becomes forests', to show that something belongs to the forests

To show ownership of several nouns for one object, add the 's to the last item in the list. For example, if Kate, Bob, Sandy, and Mary all have ownership in a bakery, you would write:

Kate, Bob, Sandy, and Mary's bakery

If each of these four people owns their own bakery, you would write:

Kate's, Bob's, Sandy's, and Mary's bakeries

Pronouns can be tricky, especially when you're talking about your in-laws. (That's another article.)

If your mother-in-law has a leather coat, it is your mother-in-law's coat. If both your mother-in-law and your sister's mother-in-law have leather coats, they are your mothers-in-law's coats.

For indefinite pronouns, such as everyone, anyone, or somebiody else, simply add 's to the word:

everyone's; anyone's; somebody else's

Finally, to show ownership to a point in time, such as yesterday, today, or that month, add 's to the word:

yesterday's; today's; that month's

The copyright of the article Apostrophes Show Ownership in Editing is owned by Kimberly Dawn Wells. Permission to republish Apostrophes Show Ownership in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.