Apostrophes | Indicating Possession and Omission

This comprehensive tutorial will dive into the correct usage of apostrophes to indicate possession and omission. This tutorial is ideal for both educators and students seeking to master the nuances of apostrophes.

What You’ll Learn:

Apostrophes Indicating Possession:

• Singular nouns: How to show possession (e.g., The dog’s leash).
• Plural nouns ending in “s”: Proper placement of apostrophes (e.g., The teachers’ lounge).
• Plural nouns not ending in “s”: Adding apostrophes (e.g., The children’s play park).
• Singular nouns ending in “s”: Acceptable forms (e.g., Charles’s book or Charles’ book).
• Joint possession: Apostrophes after the last noun (e.g., Jack and Jill’s pail).
• Individual possession: Apostrophes after each noun (e.g., Jack’s and Jill’s pails).

Apostrophes Indicating Omission:

• Formal contractions: “Not,” “am,” “are,” “have,” “let us” (e.g., can’t, I’m).
• Two-part contractions: “Is” and “has,” “will” and “shall,” “would” and “had” (e.g., he’s, we’ll).
• WH question words: Who, what, where, when, why, how (e.g., who’s, what’s).
• Informal contractions: Contractions where “ha” is omitted (e.g., I’ve).
• Colloquial contractions: Common informal contractions (e.g., ain’t, o’clock).
• In-ward contractions: Words like ‘never,’ ‘ever,’ and ‘over’ (e.g., ne’er, e’er).

Special Cases:

• Its vs. It’s: Understanding possessive pronouns vs. contractions (e.g., The cat licked its paw vs. It’s raining).
• Whose vs. Who’s: Differentiating possessive pronouns from contractions (e.g., Whose book is this? vs. Who’s coming to dinner?).
• Your vs. You’re: Possessive adjectives vs. contractions (e.g., Is this your book? vs. You’re going to love this movie).
• Their vs. They’re vs. There: Possessive adjectives, contractions, and adverbs of place (e.g., Their house, They’re going, The book is over there).

Common Mistakes to Avoid:

• Using apostrophes for plural nouns incorrectly (e.g., Apples, not Apple’s).
• Incorrectly using apostrophes with letters, numbers and abbreviations (e.g., 1990s, PhDs).
• Confusing plural possessives (e.g., Students’ vs. Student’s).

Interactive Exercises:

• Matching exercises to explain apostrophe usage.
• Identifying correct and incorrect apostrophe usage.
• Selecting options that accurately describe apostrophe use in sentences.
• Identifying words needing apostrophes for possession.
• Correcting words with inaccurate apostrophes.