Types of apostrophes in English

and how to use them correctly

In English there is a form of
punctuation that causes a lot of
problems. Apostrophes in English
are small, like air commas, but
they influence the sound of a
word and are an important part of
written English.
There are two basic types of apostrophes:
1. Apostrophes of contraction
2. Apostrophes of possession
The easiest way to use them is during
contractions. The apostrophe shows that
two words have been joined, and
represents the missing letters, for
example:
I am - I’m - I Will - I’ll - I would - I’d - I have - I’ve - You
are - You’re - You Will - You’ll - You would - You’d - You have
You’ve - He is - He’s - He Will - He’ll - He would - He’d -
He has - He’s - he is - She’s - She will - She’ll - She would
She’d - She has - She’s - It is - It’s - It will - I’II - It would -
It’d - It has It’s - We are - We’re - We will - We’ll - We would -
We’d - We have - We’ve - They are - They’re - They will -
They’ll -They would - They’d - They have - They’ve
Other forms:
Who is = who’s
Does not = doesn’t
Cannot = can’t
Apostrophes are also used to show who
owns something or that something belongs
to someone or a group. Below are some
examples of possessives in English:
“My son’s name is James” i.e. the name
James belongs to my son.
“The old man’s jacket is too small.”
“The team’s captain was sent off for a foul.”
“Yesterday’s weather was beautiful.”
If a personal name ends in 's' add
an apostrophe plus 's', unless it is
the name of an organization.
For example:
“I have joined Charles’s house hold in June.”
“James’s birthday is in August.”
“St James’ hospital is now closed.”
Note – Possessive pronouns and
possessive determiners already show
belonging so you do not need an
apostrophe with the words: his or hers, my
or mine, our or ours, your or yours, their or
theirs. So, for example, 'its tail', does not
need an apostrophe although 'its' means
that it belongs to it.
In English the apostrophe goes before
the final 's' with singular nouns or
names, but it goes after the 's' in the
plural. For example, “The students’
books” are the books that belong to
the students, unlike “the student’s
books” that only belong to one
student.
Again, note that if the word or words suggest
more than one or a group, then 's' is used.
For example:
“Children’s meals will be provided”
“Emma and Jane’s mother is due soon.”
They are also used to show ownership
when words have been omitted.
For example:
“We went to Androv’s [house] to watch Match of the
Day.__” y “The Madina’s is the best Indian restaurant
but Gurkha’s [restaurant] does a good curry.“
It is not necessary to use an apostrophe to
form the plurals of nouns, abbreviations or
dates composed of numbers. Instead, you
just have to add an “s” (or ‘es’, if the noun in
question forms its plural with ‘es’). For
example: ‘_the 1990s’_and ‘M.P.s’.
In English, the apostrophe is used
to form the possessive. It is used to
indicate that a person, animal or
thing owns something. For
example:
John’s car.
The cat’s toy.
• Possession:
The apostrophe is used to show possession
when it refers to something that someone owns.
For example:
"The cat's tail was fluffy."
• Deletion of letters and numbers:
The apostrophe is used to avoid letters or
numbers. For example:
"He's a great guy."
It is also used to form the plural of some
abbreviated words and words that are written
with capital letters, such as years (1980's).
However, there are some exceptions to this rule. If
the word being possessed already ends in "s", only
an apostrophe is added after the letter and an "s" is
not added.
For example:
James’ car.
The bus’ wheels.
The dress’ color.