The English apostrophe s and s apostrophe cause a lot of problems, even for native speakers. This lesson's task is to help you learn about possessives and contractions that need apostrophes and plurals that don't.
 

The apostrophe has two purposes in English:

1. To indicate that one or more letters was dropped in a contraction:
   it is > it's
   we are > we're
   does not > doesn't
   of the clock > o'clock
    
2. To indicate possession:
   a) singular with 's
       Tom's book
       Jeannie's idea
       the girl's toys (toys belong to one girl)
   b) plural with s'
       the books' covers
       my brothers' jobs
       the girls' toys (toys belong to several girls)

The apostrophe should never be used when you are just talking about something that is plural, with no possession.

The girl's walked by > The girls walked by
My brother's are tall > My brothers are tall
Welcome traveler's > Welcome travelers

 
The Bottom Line

Just remember that the apostrophe has a purpose: to indicate a contraction or possession. It does not indicate a plural - the letter s does a fine job of that all by itself.
 

Related difficulties:

More English Difficulties

Copyright ©   Laura K. Lawless  All rights reserved.
About My English | About This Site

Custom Search