It’s not tattoo’s unless you’re saying, “The tattoo’s color faded.”
It’s not you’re unless you mean you are.
It’s not visitor’s unless you’re saying “It’s because of my visitor’s loyalty that I remain motivated to blog.”
It’s not taco’s and burrito’s. It’s not “kid’s have fun on the weekend.”
It’s not pizza’s or computer’s or banana’s.
Just because it has an “s” at the end, doesn’t mean the word needs the little twiddly icon.
Typos happen. I get it.
But in most cases, incorrect usage has more to do with ignorance or confusion than mistakenly inserting or deleting an apostrophe.
As you can tell this is one of my pet peeves (along with the frequent abuse of the words loose and lose. Oh, and don’t even get me started on the difference between their, they’re and there. Just take this test. And hopefully, you’ll know just how to use these three correctly by the end.) … but coming back to the apostrophes: there are two big rules. Stick with them and you won’t go wrong.
Before I share those with you, though, here’s a collection of pictures demonstrating how apostrophes are abused so rampantly in our daily lives.
Want more pics? Head on over to the Grocer’s Pool.
The two rules of using apostrophes correctly.
1. The apostrophe denotes a missing letter or letters:
- can’t — which really means can not.
- don’t — which really means do not.
- it’s — which really means it is or it has.
- won’t — which really means will not.
- you’re — which really means you are.
- we’re — which really means we are.
- she’s — which really means she is.
- he’s — which really means he is.
- they’ve — which really means they have.
Get the drift?
If there is no missing letter, there is no apostrophe.
Plurals, just by virtue of having an “s” don’t need an apostrophe. Period.
2. The apostrophe denotes possession:
- the boy’s hat (the hat belongs to the boy)
- the company’s logo (the logo belongs to the company)
- the couple’s house (the house that belongs to the couple)
- the writer’s pen (the pen that belongs to the writer)
- And so on…
Based on the above rules and examples, the correct sentence will be “The cat lost its way” (not the cat lost it’s way).
Simply put, if you can insert it is or it has in place of it’s only, and only then use the apostrophe. Otherwise, it’s its.
Same rule applies to the common mistake of using you’re when people really want to say your. It’s “your pen” not you’re pen. The latter doesn’t even make sense!
Grammar Divas have more detailed rules with examples in this post.
If you’ve had enough of a lecture and want to see where you stand, give BBC’s Apostrophe Quiz a twirl.
Also, review the Apostrophe Tutorial and then take the Apostrophe Review test (has some GREAT examples).
And before you go, have a look at this excellent post on how to stop killing the apostrophe by Lauren at Ballywick.
Got your own favorite grammar sites to share? Please add them in the comments section.
Happy apostrophizing — or not!
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Ugh! Apostrophe abuse drives me nuts. Do you want to know the one that bugs me most of all and 80% of the people get it wrong. It’s when a decade is shortened. I’m tired of looking at people typing the numbers like 80’s, 90’s, etc. The apostrophe is in the wrong place. Correct: ’80s, ’90s, etc.
Interesting…!
Thanx.
Very valuable information !! Thanks for sharing !!
Nice mansi!..
Your piece should have been named the apostrophe catastrophe
Its a neat piece..Oops, it is a neat piece
Keep up the good writing.
What a valuable lesson! Thank you for the tip
Thank’s, though to be honest Im a little bit betterer at grammer than youre and I think I spotted a couple of mistake’s in you post.
What’s wrong with Bill’s $50 notes any way? What has he done to upset them, or is he just the local scoundrel that passes on forgeries?
Glen, I assume that’s some sort of joke?
funny nevertheless
I’m assuming so, too, Sean
I won’t even dare ask what grammatical errors he spotted.
My biggest pet peeve is the misuse of homophones. I wrote a couple blog posts concerning some of them a while back. I’ve actually had to hide certain people from my news feed on Facebook because of their poor grammar & spelling lol.
great info…
also to add…I think we can use the apostrophe when we are uncertain of the usage of verbs like will, shall, is, has etc.
Like Who’s can be the contraction of who is as well as who has.
Similarly, Who’ll can be used when we are not certain whether to use who shall or who will.
Happy Blogging…
Thanks for those additions, Anubhav. Appreciate it.