Tip #5 - Easy Apostrophes

A frequent question from teachers is, How do I teach students the basics about using apostrophes? Let’s keep it easy.

“Its” or “it’s”? Some students find them endlessly confusing. So one easy answer is that personal pronouns never use apostrophes to indicate possession. Examples: “That hat is hers” (not her’s). “The apple is noted for its red color” (not it’s). Nouns, on the other hand, do take apostrophes to show possession. Examples: “That is Joan’s hat” or “The dog’s collar is missing.”

Another common use of apostrophes is to indicate that letters are missing, as in contractions: “isn’t” for “is not” or “I’m” for “I am.” Formal writing, such as reports, still tends not to include contractions. They are present in most other writing, but overuse should be avoided. It’s hard to justify “should’nt’ve” for “should not have,” for instance.

Help students keep in mind that English is a living language and therefore periodically changes. These changes can be a fascinating study in themselves. For example, the word bus, the vehicle, began in the 1800s as omnibus. In the early twentieth century, as buses became more widely used (and motorized), the word was briefly seen in publications as ’bus, with the apostrophe standing in for the missing omni. Later, common use of the word led to dropping the apostrophe.

Another example of such “evolution” is the word email. This shorthand for “electronic mail” started as E-mail, but rapidly was reduced to lower case e-mail. Some publications still retain the hyphen, but many have made the transition to the unhyphenated form.

Eras also used to be written using an apostrophe: 1890’s or 1950’s. Today, however, that apostrophe is seldom used. Eras are written as 1890s or 1950s. Other plurals involving letters and numbers still use the apostrophe. Examples: “The sum of those numbers contains three 7’s” or “Little Tom knows his ABC’s.”

To sum up, three easy, basic rules can help you teach correct apostrophe use:

• Don’t use apostrophes to show possession with personal pronouns, but do use apostrophes to show possession with nouns.
• Use apostrophes to stand in for missing letters in contractions, but stick to common contractions and don’t overuse apostrophes.
• Be aware that language changes over time, which can alter the correct use of apostrophes and other punctuation marks.