Using Apostrophes

Possessive Case To form the possessive case of most singular nouns, add an apostrophe and an s. Ex. Tony’s problem; a bus’s wheel, a dollar’s worth, Mr. Ross’s job

Note: For a proper name ending in s, add only an apostrophe if the name has two or more syllables and if the addition of ‘s would make the name awkward to pronounce. Ex. West Indies’ export; Texas’ governor, Mrs. Wiggins’ car 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. Ex: the actress’s costumes, the dress’s sleeves, the class’s teacher

Let’s Try… Form the possessive case of each of the following nouns Let’s Try… Form the possessive case of each of the following nouns. After each possessive word, give an appropriate noun. Example: Teresa – Teresa’s pencil baby uncle year cent class Terry Ellen mouse Mr. Chan Mr. Reynolds plane boss child Ms. Sanchez horse Paris system Mr. Jones

Let’s check… baby’s bottle uncle’s house year’s events cent’s worth class’s problem Terry’s friend Ellen’s plans mouse’s cheese Mr. Chan’s daughter Mr. Reynolds’ car plane’s wings boss’s secretary child’s game Ms. Sanchez’s son horse’s mane Paris’s cafes system’s problem Mr. Jones’s car

Possessive plurals To form the possessive case of a plural nouns ending in s, add only the apostrophe. two birds’ feathers all three cousins’ vacation the Girl Scouts’ uniforms *If the plural noun doesn’t end in s, add an apostrophe and s. children’s shoes women’s belts

Let’s Try… Form the possessive case of each of the following plural nouns. men cats teachers enemies princesses dollars elves cattle mice parents 11. the Smiths sheep wives O’Gradys runners attorneys allies friends women bats

Let’s Check… men’s cats’ teachers’ enemies’ princesses’ dollars’ elves’ cattle’s mice’s parents’ 11. The Smiths’ 12. sheep’s 13. wives; 14. O’Gradys’ runners’ attorneys’ allies’ friends’ women’s bats’

Possessive Notes Continued Generally, in compound words, names of organizations and businesses, and words showing joint possession, only the last word is possessive in form. compound words: community board’s meeting Organizations: United Fund’s drive Businesses: Berkeley Milk Company’s trucks Joint Possession: Peggy and Lisa’s tent

When two or more persons possess something individually, each of their names is possessive in form. Example: Mrs. Martin’s and Mrs. Blair’s cars Amy’s and Danielle’s tennis rackets

Contractions Use an apostrophe to show where letters, numerals, or words have been omitted in a contraction. Who is = Who’s 1991 = ’91 Of the clock = O’clock Bill is = Bill’s I had = I’d You all = y’all 

Don’t be confused~contractions and possessive pronouns are not the same! Who’s at bat? It’s roaring. You’re too busy! There’s a kite. They’re tall trees. Whose bat is that? Listen to its roar. Your friend is busy. That kite is theirs. Their trees are tall.

Plurals To prevent confusion, use an apostrophe and an s to form the plurals of lowercase letters, some capital letters, numerals, symbols, and words that are referred to as words. I got A’s on both tests. The 1’s in this exercise look like l’s. Two different Web site addresses began with ##’s and ended with .com’s. His hi’s are always cheerful.