Possessive Apostrophe
What does it look like?
John's homework was unfinished, so he made up a tragic story.
How does it work
Use an apostrophe ' before an S to show possession. In the sentence above, John owns the homework, so we use 's. Without the apostrophe, we would mean that there was more than one John; in other words, the S would signify plurality.
What if there's more than one AND they own something?
Good question. If the word is both plural AND possessive, you place the apostrophe after the s. Like this: "The kids' hats and mittens were soaked." In this case, we are talking about the hats and mittens of more than one kid.
What if there's more than one AND they own something?
Good question. If the word is both plural AND possessive, you place the apostrophe after the s. Like this: "The kids' hats and mittens were soaked." In this case, we are talking about the hats and mittens of more than one kid.
One big Gotcha!
Don't get the possessive apostrophes mixed up with a contraction, which uses an apostrophe to smoosh two words together, such as "isn't," which is short for "is not."
The only time this gets really confusing is when you need to decide whether to write "its" or "it's." Here's the rule: "it's" always means "it is;" therefore "its" has to be possessive. Like this: "the dog scratches its fleas, and I think it's disgusting."
Tip: since you aren't supposed to use contractions in formal essays anyway, cut out the variable, and only use the apostrophe to show possession. Except with "its"... then don't use the apostrophe at all. :-)
The only time this gets really confusing is when you need to decide whether to write "its" or "it's." Here's the rule: "it's" always means "it is;" therefore "its" has to be possessive. Like this: "the dog scratches its fleas, and I think it's disgusting."
Tip: since you aren't supposed to use contractions in formal essays anyway, cut out the variable, and only use the apostrophe to show possession. Except with "its"... then don't use the apostrophe at all. :-)