Sophomore English (A) Grammar Apostrophes

Diagnostic: 1. Is this anybodys book? 2. Who’s dog is this? 3. The group made it’s decision. 4. The geeses’ honks are loud. 5. I went to visit my Aunt Louise’s and Uncle Bob’s house. 6. The friends’s letter arrived in the mail. 7. Mr. Lincoln was president in the 19th century – during the 60’s. 8. Several of Jesus’ disciples were fishermen. anybody’s Whose its geese’s Aunt Louise and Uncle Bob’s house friends’ ‘60s

Diagnostic: 9. The letter is from the Olson’s 10. My brother didn’t do it, I think it was one of yours’. 11. Who’s going to the mall today? 12. She is on the girl’s soccer team. Olsons yours girls or girls’

The apostrophe has three uses: To form possessives of nouns To show the omission of letters To indicate certain plurals of lowercase letters

The possessive case of a noun or pronoun shows ownership To form the possessive case of most singular nouns, add an apostrophe and then an s. Mike's friend a good night's sleep Sven's microphone

What about singular nouns ending in s or z? When forming the possessive of a singular noun ending in an s or z sound, add only the apostrophe if: -the noun has more than one syllable - the addition of the 's would make the noun awkward to pronounce. TV series' episode for goodness' sake the species' characteristics

What about singular nouns ending in s or z? - If a singular noun ending in an s or a z sound does not satisfy both of these conditions (previous slide), add an 's. my VW bus's tires her boss's orders

What about singular nouns ending in s or z? Similarly, for a singular common noun ending in s, add both an apostrophe and an s if the added s is pronounced as a separate syllable: an actress's diction a class's teacher a dress's color

What about singular nouns ending in s? For PROPER NAMES ending in s, add only the apostrophe if the name has two or more syllables and if the addition of 's would make the name more awkward to say. Ulysses' plan Jesus' disciples Texas' governor Ross's book.

To form the possessive case of plural nouns: Place the apostrophe after the s which was added to make the noun plural. two birds' feathers all three cousins' gifts the Girls Scouts' uniforms the princesses’ gowns

To form the possessive case of plural nouns: Although most plural nouns end in s, some are irregular (of course!). To form the possessive case of a plural noun that does not end in s, add 's. children's theatre those deer's food women's rights geese's migration

Possessive personal pronouns do not need an apostrophe: Elena has your sweater. The sweater is yours. This car is ours.

Whose, its and their do not take apostrophes: Whose sweater is this? Its fleece was white as snow. Is that their copy? Yes, that copy is theirs. as opposed to. . . Who's coming to the party? It's a beautiful day!

To form the possessive of an indefinite pronoun, add 's: Everyone's point of view anyone's guess either's idea

To form the possessive of compound nouns: Use the 's on only the last word of the compound noun and in word groups that show joint possession Urban League's office Acosta and Rivera's law firm Bob and Jim's canoe my aunt and uncle's photos

To form the possessive by individuals of similar items: Use the 's on both nouns Mike’s and Lisa’s wallets Elena’s and Rob’s brothers

Use an apostrophe in contractions: would’ve she’s it’s who’s don’t they’re She was born in ‘33.

Apostrophes with numbers: With numbers, both ways are correct. She works with the 3’s at church. She works with the 3s at church. NEVER use an apostrophe with years. (unless it is replacing missing numbers) Dad was a teen in the 1960s. The ‘30s were a difficult time.