Apostrophes in English

How much do you know about using apostrophes?
Do you know the difference between "the girl's books" and "the girls' books"?
What about "it's" and "its"?
Is it OK to use 's for a plural?
What do we do with names that end in -s?

You can find the answers to these questions and more in this post.

Missing letters and contractions
One way we use apostrophes is in things like don’t, she’s and haven’t. I’m sure you know this already but do you know why we do?

The apostrophe represents a letter or letters which have been missed out. This is really helpful to remember because it will tell you where to put the apostrophe when you’re not sure.

For example, is it does’nt or doesn’t? Well, this is the contracted or shortened form of does not. We take out the O in the middle of not and put an apostrophe in its place, so doesn’t is correct. Now you’ll never forget where to put the apostrophe!

Here are some common contractions:
you’d = you would or you had (be careful when there are two possibilities)
it’s = it is or it has (two possibilities again)
what’s = what is or what has
don’t = do not
won’t = will not
can’t = cannot (yes, it’s one word)
I’m = I am
I’ll = I will
I’ve = I have
shan’t = shall not (this used to be written as sha’n’t to show all the missing letters but was later replaced by shan’t)
let’s = let us

Common mistakes
Make sure you don’t confuse it’s and its, or you’re and your. Its and your are possessive, like my or his.

Another common mistake to avoid is should of. It’s should HAVE! This happens because should’ve sounds a bit like should of but it’s not good English. This is a mistake that even native speakers make!

More examples
Here are a few more examples of apostrophes used to replace missing letters:
o’clock = of the clock (which people used to say but don’t any more)
y’all = you all (American English, especially in the south)
the ’70s = the 1970s
fish ’n’ chips = fish and chips (because that’s how we usually pronounce it!)
’phone = telephone (but this is old-fashioned and most people just write phone nowadays)
ma’am = madam (although these are not used in the same way - see this post for more information.

And you might see these in dialogue or very informal English:
’em = them
goin’ = going
ain’t = am not, are not, is not, have not, or has not

Can you use apostrophes for plurals?
English learners sometimes use the apostrophe for plurals but this is a mistake. It should be cats, not cat’s, of course!

But even native speakers make this mistake. It’s so common, it even has a name. We call it the greengrocer’s apostrophe. This is because you might see signs that read carrot’s or apple’s when you go to the greengrocer’s or market! As you know, I’m sure, it should be carrots and apples without an apostrophe!

You should only write apple’s with an apostrophe if you want to say is or has. For example:
This apple’s delicious = This apple is delicious
This apple’s been in the fridge = This apple has been in the fridge

So the general rule is not to use an apostrophe before S to make a plural.

However, there are a few rare exceptions.

You might see:
He got 3 A’s in his exams.
Four 5’s is twenty.
Dad’s in his 80’s.
do’s and don’t’s
V.I.P.’s (V.I.P. = very important person)

I personally prefer:
He got 3 As in his exams.
Four 5s is twenty.
Dad’s in his 80s.
dos and don’ts
VIPs (I’m British and we’re less likely to write V.I.P. with full stops)

I think they look better without the apostrophes. Many style guides would agree with me and some say both forms are possible.

However, with lowercase letters, we do occasionally use an apostrophe, for example:
Dot the i’s and cross the t’s

Without the apostrophe, we have the word is instead of i’s, so we use an apostrophe to avoid confusion. Then we write t’s as well to be consistent.

I think this looks a bit ugly and I might even avoid it by writing it like this:
Dot every i and cross every t!

So, in my opinion, the only time you should use an apostrophe with a plural is if you really have to in order to make it clear! 


To show possession
The basics
First, let me give you a quick reminder of the basic rules for this. You can skip the first bit if you already know it.

When something or somebody belongs to somebody, we usually show this with ’s.
For example:
This is Katie’s house. (the house which belongs to Katie)
How is John’s father? (the father of John)
What’s your friend’s name? (the name of your friend)

We mostly use this for people but it can also be used for:

groups of people - e.g. the government’s policies
animals - e.g. the cat’s tail
places - e.g. London’s streets
time words - e.g. yesterday’s news

Plural nouns
With plural nouns ending in -s, we put an apostrophe after the -s and we don’t add another S after the apostrophe. So:
the girl’s books = the books belonging to one girl 
the girls’ books = the books belonging to more than one girl (NOT girls’s)

With irregular plurals which don’t end in -s, we do add an S after the apostrophe.
the children’s books
the women’s toilets

Names ending in -s
Now this is where it gets a bit difficult!

Which do you think is correct?

Kamala Harris’ husband
or
Kamala Harris’s husband?

When I was at school (a long time ago!!) I’m fairly sure we were taught that you don’t put another S after the apostrophe when a name ends in -s.

But that was quite a long time ago and languages evolve! In the UK, people don’t really follow that rule any more. It’s old-fashioned.

I read a great article about this in The Guardian a few months ago and somebody was quoted as saying we should simply write what we say. “If you say the s, spell the s.” I like that!

I would say two “s” sounds so I would write “Harris’s”. (“Harris’s” sounds like “Harrises”.)

I should say at this point that not all English speakers agree on this. In fact, both spellings - Harris’ and Harris’s - are possible but I prefer “Harris’s”.
 
Here’s another example:
Prince William is King Charles’s son.

Again, I’ve written it how I would say it, with two “s” sounds but “Charles’ son” is also possible.

But there are times when I wouldn’t write the extra -s. For example:
Mr Roberts’ car (= the car of Mr Roberts)
Moses’ brother
Socrates’ theory

If you try to say it with an extra “s”, it sounds a bit silly. So again, I would just write it as I say it.

With Jesus, I could go either way: both “Jesus’ disciples” and “Jesus’s disciples” look and sound OK to me.

Finally, if a name ends in a silent -s, I would add ’s:
Alexandre Dumas’s novels
That would be consistent with the rest of my approach but “Dumas’ novels” is also possible.

So what did you learn at school and which do you think is more correct?

Final comments
Most of the rules about apostrophes are black and white. In other words, there’s only one right way to do it. But remember that this isn’t always true. Occasionally, there are two possibilities. And if you were at school a long time ago, like me, things might be different nowadays!

If you’re writing for a particular publication, like a newspaper, academic journal or publishing company, they might have a style guide which you should follow. Examples include The BBC News Style Guide and The Chicago Manual of Style. These guides exist because language is complicated and there isn’t always one correct answer. One style guide might recommend “Harris’”, another “Harris’s” and another might say both are OK.


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