Apostrophe

E4B- Level B

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

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Why do we use the Apostrophe?

Contractions
01

02 Possession of proper nouns

I am = I'm boy's toys John's
house

03 Possession of nouns

04 Possession with multiple owners

Mark and Mark's and I got 3

Plurals with letters and numerals Mary's Mary's A's
05
house house

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CONTRACTIONS
I'm John's
I've Couldn't
She'd Aren't
We're Ain't
You'd Gonna
Isn't 'cause
He's How's
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POSSESSION FOR
REGULAR NOUNS

With regular nouns we add apostrophe

+ S ONLY if the noun DOES NOT have
an "s". This means that singular or
plural does NOT matter.

Ex. The bus' wheels

Ex. The children's books.

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POSSESSION FOR
PROPER NOUNS

There is not much consensus

as to the apostrophe with
proper nouns. Any form is
correct, as long as you are
consistent.

Ex. Mr. Fords' house

Ex. Mr. Fords's house.

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 POSSESSIVE WITH 07

PLURAL PROPER
NOUNS

If someone's name ends in s, we must add -

es for the plural. The plural
of Hastings is Hastingses. The members of the
Jones family are the Joneses.

Ex. The Hastingses' are staying in room 202.

Ex. The Joneses' dog.

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Possessive with If both persons own the same

item, we add the apostrophe + s
two owners. only to the last name. If both
people own separate items we
must add the apostrophe + s to
both names.

Ex. Tom's and John's car broke.

(Each have their own car and
both cars broke)
Ex. Tom and John's car broke.
(They own one car, together)
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 Using the Apostrophe to make 14

plurals.
In some cases, especially with numbers or
letters, adding "s" to form the plural can be
very confusing.

Ex: My a's look like u's

Ex. I got 4 A's and 2 B's

Ex. There are two new MPs.

Ex. He learned his ABCs.

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 Common mistakes 08

DO NOT use the apostrophe

to make a name plural
Ex. The Wilson's are here DO NOT use apostrophe with
the possessive pronoun "IT"
Ex. It's food.
Ex. Its food.

DO NOT change people's

name.
Ex. The Fords' house
Ex. The Ford's house

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

 PRACTICE https://www.englisch-
hilfen.de/en/exercises/nouns_articles/apostrophe_s.htm
18

https://www.grammarbook.com/grammar_quiz/apostrophes_1.asp

https://www.grammarbook.com/grammar_quiz/apostrophes_2.asp

SEPTEMBER 23, 2020