The Apostrophe - Contractions and Possessives

Contraction.

A contraction is a shortened form of one or two words (one of which is usually a verb). In a contraction, an apostrophe takes the place of the missing letter or letters.

List o' Common Contractions:

BE WILL WOULD HAVE HAD I I'm I am I'll I will I'd I would I've I have I'd I had you you're you are you'll you will you'd you would you've you have you'd you had he he's he is he'll he will he'd he would he's he has he'd he had she she's she is she'll she will she'd she would she's she has she'd she had it it's (or 'tis) it is it'll it will it'd it would it's it has it'd it had we we're we are we'll we will we'd we would we've we have we'd we had they they're they are they'll they will they'd they would they've they have they'd they had that that's that is that'll that will that'd that would that's that has that'd that had who who's who is who'll who will who'd who would who's who has who'd who had what what's/what're what is/what are what'll what will what'd what would what's what has what'd what had where where's where is where'll where will where'd where would where's where has where'd where had when when's when is when'll when will when'd when would when's when has when'd when had why why's why is why'll why will why'd why would why's why has why'd why had how how's how is how'll how will how'd how would how's how has how'd how had WORDS DOUBLE CONTRACTION she would have she'd've (colloquial) it is not 'tisn't (archaic) NB: Do not overuse apostrophes, even informally. e.g. I shouldn't've taught you double apostrophe, therefore. You'dn't've figured it out. ______________ SHAN'T Shan't is the contraction of "shall not". It evolved from "shalln't" which eventually evolved into "sha'n't". Later on the apostrophe disappeared, and it is now typically written "shan't". It is commonly found in Bristish English but very rarely used in many English speaking countries. e.g. I shan't dignify that with an answer, what a stupid question! Shall we go to the films this afternoon? No we shan't. AIN'T "Ain't" is a colloquialism and contraction for "am not", "is not", "are not", "has not", and "have not". In some dialects "ain't" is also used as a contraction of "do not", "does not", and "did not".

WORDS (negating a verb) CONTRACTION is not isn't are not aren't was not wasn't were not weren't have not haven't has not hasn't had not hadn't will not won't would not wouldn't do not don't does not doesn't did not didn't cannot can't could not couldn't should not shouldn't might not mightn't must not mustn't WORDS (woulda-shoulda-coulda) CONTRACTION would have would've should have should've could have could've might have might've must have must've WORDS (odd ones) CONTRACTION of o' of the clock o'clock madam ma'am never-do-well ne'er-do-well cat-of-nine-tails cat-o'-nine-tails jack-of-the-lantern jack-o'-lantern will-of-the-wisp will-o'-the-wisp it was 'twas (archaic) NB: Do not confuse the following contractions with similar words: - it's (contraction for it is, it has) with its (possessive determiner/pronoun, meaning belonging to it). When you’re trying to use the possessive (to say that someone or something owns something else), do NOT use the apostrophe – just like there is no apostrophe in yours, his, hers, etc.  And the apostrophe in it’s stands for the letters that are missing (since apostrophes usually stand for letters “turned away”, like we read at the top of this article). - they're (contraction for they are) with their (possessive determiner) and there (place). - who's (contraction for who is) with whose (question word about possession). - you're (contraction for you are) with your (possessive determiner). It's a great piece of writing. Its style is very clear. Who's the writer whose books are now best sellers.

The above table was adopted from the Enchanted Learning webpage.

Possessives

The Punctuation Rules for Indicating Possessives

Possession means that some "property" (a ball) belongs or is in close relationship to an "owner" (the children), which are usually described by nouns. Use the apostrophe to show what belongs to whom.

1. Add 's to singular nouns to show they are the "owners."
The author's books appeared in Mr. Smith's review article.

Note: If the singular owner already ends with s, you can either add 's or only an apostrophe. IN Academic Literacy, we prefer the second option but if you chose otherwise, you must be consistent with the option you choose

•         Mr. Williams's dog ate Chris's writing assignment. Or

•         Mr. Williams' dog ate Chris' writing assignment.

2. Add only an apostrophe to plural nouns to show they are the "owners."
The Williams' dog ate all the students' writing assignment.

Note: If the plural nouns does not end in s, add 's to show they are the owners.
The Children's dog ate the people's shoes.

3. Add 's to the last word in compound words and phrases:

•         The basketball player's performance was incredible.

•         His father-in-law's business is very successful.

4. Add 's to each "owner" to show that each of them owns a "property" separately.
Dan's and Sharon's writing assignments are the best in the class.
(Two different assignments written by two different people)

5. Add 's to the last "owner" in a group to show that the group owns a "property" jointly.
Dan and Sharon's writing assignment is the best in class.
    (One assignment written by two people together).

Pay attention!
1. The Apostrophe does not create possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, its, hers, ours, theirs).
We need two cars. Let's take ours and hers.

2. You may prefer using the preposition "of" instead of the apostrophe to show possession when the owner is described using a long phrase.
The new German writing instructor's books are best seller. Or
The Books of the new German writing instructor are best sellers.

The following nouns are possessive and do not require apostrophes:

yours        his        hers        ours        theirs        whose

Using the apostrophe for indicating plurals

Right or wrong?
The student's had a variety of grades but the most were 70s or 90s.

Right and Wrong! In the above example sentence the plural word (student's) does not require an apostrophe as plurals normally do not take an apostrophe. The plurals of numbers, however, can be written with an apostrophe or without.

The Punctuation Rules for Indicating Plurals with the Apostrophe

Even though the apostrophe is not used to make plural nouns in English, it is still used to pluralize the following elements:

1. Plural of letters meant as letters, both in upper case and in lower case.
Mississippi has lots of S's in it. (Option: underline the letter)
Mississippi has lots of s's in it.

2. Plural of numbers to avoid ambiguity.
The binary system uses 0's and 1's. (Otherwise could look like Os and Is).

3. In the following cases, do not use an apostrophe, unless you believe the reader may not find your writing clear:
-Plurals of letters meant as words
The students got all Cs in their writing assignments.
     (C is here a word for grade level)

-Plurals of words meant as words
No ifs or buts! (No apostrophes)
The do's and the don'ts of apostrophe usage. (Without apostrophes may seem unclear)

-Plural of numbers
This airliner only uses 747s.

-Plural of years
Berlin had a lively atmosphere during the 1920s.

-Plurals of symbols
What do all these @s mean?

Adopted from the WhiteSmoke webpage