1. APOSTROHPES MRS. COATS & MRS. MCRAE

2. WHY USE AN APOSTROPHE? To show ownership To designate a contractions

3. SHOWING OWNERSHIP To show that one person or thing owns something, you add ‘s. My car’s tires are getting old. Mrs. McRae’s room is almost square. To show ownership of someone or thing (singular) that already ends in s, you add ‘s. Mrs. Coats’s hair is extra curly today. The class’s vote was unanimous. If it’s singular, give it another s. To show ownership of more than one person or things (plural) that already ends in s, you ONLY add the apostrophe. The dogs’ colors were black, brown, and white. The Hawkins’ sisters are really smart. Because colors and sisters are PLURAL (more than one), you do NOT add the extra s. If it’s plural already, don’t give it another s.

4. YOU TRY On a sheet of notebook paper, number 1-5, and choose the correct form of the word in parentheses. Once upon a time, there were two teachers named Mrs. 1.)______ (Coats/Coats’) and Mrs. McRae. They struck out to fill their 2.)_____ (students’/student’s) brains with knowledge of the English language. 3.)_______(Sometime’s/Sometimes/Sometimes’) they like to make funny jokes on their powerpoints. Even though giving a speech 4.)____(isn’t/isnt) in their _____ (students’/student’s) most ideal world, Mrs. Coats and Mrs. McRae 5.)____ (donot/don’t/don’t’) care.

5. CONTRACTIONS When you make a contraction, you must put the apostrophe in place of the letter you removed. Can not = can’t Will not = won’t Should not = shouldn’t Do not = don’t Do not confuse ownership for contractions: Big no-no/the messiest apostrophe: Its (ownership) It’s – shows it IS (remember, a letter has been taken out to make the contraction) Its’ Which one of these doesn’t exist?