The Apostrophe: Possessives
By Robin
An apostrophe indicates a possessive of a singular noun.
Examples:
- The girl's hat. (The hat belongs to the girl.)
- The clown's enormous red shoes slapped the floor. (The shoes belong to the clown.)
- The dog's tail wagged rapidly when we arrived home. (The tail belongs to the dog.)
An apostrophe indicates a possessive of a plural noun
Examples:
- The girls' hats. (There is more than one girl.)
- The babies' bottles were ready to drink.
- The children's playground is under construction.
Do you want more information on apostrophes?
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Nice information Robin! I have a weakness when it comes to apostrophe usage. This hub has helped a lot.
Appreciate it very much~
K9
I notice that the NY times finally stopped using an unnecessary and illogical apostrophe following numbers as in "He was in college in the 1990's" as opposed to "1990s. In my opinion, using a apostrophe in to indicate a plural is unnecessary and, beyond that, illogical. Anybody disagree?
thanks robin i'll look forward to your hub
Great idea. I'll work on it. Thanks! Robin
How about a hub explaining the use of quotation marks? I see a lot of italics used. Another hub, maybe? Thanks.
Ha! Well, if it's any consolation, I am horrible at your trivia. It's fun to try to play though. Robin
Are you kidding?? I ain't got no bidness tryin' to sound like 'at! Actually, I have to admit that I do like most teachers. I also like this hub, it's great and covers my favorite school subject.
I was taught the same rule in English class. It is a recent usage rule to add the 's instead of just an apostrophe after words ending in s. Thanks for the comment, and I love English teachers. If you ever sound like one, it's to your credit. ;)
It used to be taught that when a noun, ending in s, had to show possession, the apostrophe would follow the last s of the noun. No 's was added. Very nice hub - did not mean to sound like that old English teacher that taught me!
Excellent answer! Thank you for the advice.
Great question! Some writers insist on putting and 's after a singular possessive that ends in s and others do not. The best bet is to be consistent. If you choose to put an 's after a singular noun ending in s then use that format throughout your text. It is a fairly new rule to put the 's after words ending in s. Unfortunately, we don't stay consistent with these rules. Sometimes, it just sounds wrong to have the 's after a singular ending in s. For example, Arkansas's governor. In this case it might just be easier to say, the governor of Arkansas. William Strunk's "Rules of Usage" states that all possessive singular nouns should end in a 's no matter the final consonant. Here's the link. http://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk.html#1 Thanks for the comment!
What if a singular noun ends in s? Jim Jones' Kool-Aid or Jim Jones's Kool-Aid?
Robin 8 months ago
Hi K9! I'm glad that it has helped! You're the best! Robin