Apostrophes

Possessives, plural possessives, plurals, and contractions

The ________________ does 2 things:

Show possession My sister’s French Bulldog is named Cami. (whose French Bulldog? Lelia’s)

Contract two words Do not sit there! Don’t sit there

Apostrophe {‘}

If it is not showing possession or contracting two words, it DOES or DOES NOT NEED an apostrophe. Practice: Circle or highlight the examples

that NEED apostrophes. Explain each one in the white space beside it.

There were many police officers out on the streets tonight.

Daquans got a bad habit of biting his nails. The cash registers computer was broken

during Black Friday! This is their land, you shouldnt be here.

When the name does not end in an –s, you

add an apostrophe –s. (Mary’s or Javon’s) When the name ends in an –s, the apostrophe

goes after the –s. (Travis’ or Darius’ or Jones’)

It doesn’t have to be a human in order to show possession. Examples: the bus’ route, the computer’s

mouse, today’s example, last night’s homework, etc.

Possessives

Examples: my kids’ tests, hunters’ licenses, different

species’ habitats, etc. When the word ends in an –s, the apostrophe goes after

the –s. (kids’ - hunters’ - species’) When the plural form of the word does not end in an –s,

punctuate it normally. (children’s - deer’s) When the plural form of the word needs an –es, punctuate

is like other –s. (all the buses’ routes vs. a bus’ route) When the plural form of the word does not change, but

sounds like –es is at the end. (fish’s -- NOT fishes) When you need a plural pronoun, make sure it agrees with

the gender and number. (theirs vs. their)

Plural Possessives

When the word does not end in an –s, add an –

s. (drinks, candles, cans, lights, lasers, games, etc.)

When the word ends in an –s, add –es. (buses, gases, passes, etc.)

When the word ends in the constanant cluster –ch, add –es. (patches, bunches, batches)

Plural Rules

There are several types of contractions. Any time you mesh two words into one, it’s a contraction. Name + verb (Lea is > Lea’s) Passive verb + negative (cannot > can’t) (will not

> won’t) (do not > don’t) I + passive verb (I would > I’d) (I will > I’ll) (I

am > I’m) always capitalize I, in or out of a contraction

Pronoun + passive verb (she will > she’ll) (he would > he’d) (we are > we’re) (they are > they’re)

Contractions

Only exception to ‘a possessive needs an

apostrophe rule’ is “its.” The contraction wins the apostrophe.

It is > It’s (Demonte said, “Today is going to be a long day.” Tre answered, “It’s going to be a killer!”) Possessive Its (example: Ms. Rice, “Where is your trumpet’s case?” Precious, “Its case is in my locker. “)

It’s vs. Its

We’re

Where

Were

What’s the difference?

There

They’re

Their