Apostrophes made simple

Apostrophes cause more panic than almost any other punctuation mark. But they only ever do two jobs.

Job 1: showing that letters are missing

do not → don’t
it is → it’s
they are → they’re
The apostrophe sits exactly where the letters were removed.

Job 2: showing belonging

One dog’s bowl (one dog).
Two dogs’ bowls (more than one dog: the apostrophe goes after the s).
The children’s books (children is already plural, so add ’s).

What apostrophes never do

They never make an ordinary plural. “Pizza’s for sale” is wrong; it should be “pizzas for sale”.

The tricky one: its and it’s

It’s always means “it is” or “it has”. Its shows belonging: “The cat licked its paw.” If you can replace the word with “it is”, use the apostrophe.

Try it: correct this sign: “Fresh apple’s and banana’s. Its the best fruit in town!” Then read the comic “The Apostrophe Incident” in the Play zone.