Grammar Nerd: Apostrophe’s???

Dear Grammar Nerd,

My friend told me that I should ask you for some help with apostrophe’s. I don’t always know when its correct to use them. Could you write a column to help me?

Thank’s!

Okie, dokie… You have a good one here. I will gladly devote a column to apostrophes, because you are hardly alone in your confusion!

You picked a good one with lots of angles to attack, because apostrophes serve several purposes. First of all, apostrophes that you see every day that represent missing letters … You’re, I’m, Don’t… are called contractions. You’re = you are (you might recall a prior column dedicated to this!) I’m = I am. Don’t = do not. These are probably the easiest of the apostrophe’s uses.

Secondly, apostrophes demonstrate possession: the family’s dog, my friend’s house, Mr. Smith’s algebra class. That would probably be number two in complexity.

Now, don’t confuse these acts of possession with simple plurals! If you have more than one family, it is families; more than one friend would be friends; and if you were referring to everyone in the Smith family, it would be the Smiths. These have no reason to insert an apostrophe, so don’t use one.

Feeling good so far? Now let’s pump it up a notch in the complexity department. Look at that last paragraph, where I talked about simple plurals. Add to that a possessive, and you have plural possessives—that confuse even the best of us! Rule of thumb: first make it plural, and then add the possession. Ready? Dogs of multiple families would be the families’ dogs. The houses of all of your friends would be your friends’ houses. And, if you had several people with the last name of Smith, and you were invited to parties with all of them, you would be invited to the Smiths’ parties.

So, in summary, apostrophes serve as contractions that demonstrate missing letters (can’t, doesn’t, shouldn’t). They also serve as possessives (student’s book, teacher’s computer, manager’s desk). And, rounding out the complexity quotient, they demonstrate plural possessives (neighbors’ block party, artists’ drawings, sales reps’ commissions).

Now that you are an expert, let me throw a zinger at you! When should you use an apostrophe with it’s? Think about it, because this is a tricky one! It’s demonstrates a missing letter, but you also know that it can show possession… What to do? Tricky as it sounds, it is actually very easy to remember: it’s = it is. That is the ONLY time that an apostrophe should be used with this word. When it shows possession, its is the correct form. So, the check is on its way. It’s in the mail.

OK! Now go and conquer the world, you apostrophe whiz!

Sydnee Bagovich provides professional proofreading services for your business: websites, brochures, presentations… You write it. She makes it right. You can reach her at grammar.nerd@yahoo.com.