Punctuation Mark: Apostrophe

Apostrophe (‘)

The apostrophe in English serves three purposes:

· Use an apostrophe in contracted forms

The apostrophe shows that letters have been left out. For example:

-         Cannot > can't

-         They have > they've

-         I would (or I had) > I'd

-         It is (or it has) > it's

-         Who is > who's

· The marking of possessive case

Use an apostrophe in possessive forms:

-        The ball of the boy > the boy's ball

-        Tara's sister

-        My friend's mother

-        New York's nightmare scenario

-        The moon's phases

· In a plural of letters and numbers

You can use an apostrophe to show the plural of letters and numbers:

-        You should dot your i's and cross your t's.

-        Do you like music from the 1950's?

· Apostrophe is also used in English single letter

The marking by some as plural of written items that are not words established in English single letter as in P's and Q's.

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Sources:

Cooper, T., Fallas, J., & Flaherty, F. (2011). English Style Guide: Seventh edition. European Commission.

Englishclub.com. (2013). Punctuation. Retrieved from http://www.englishclub.com/writing/punctuation.htm.

Phythian, B. A. (2012). Correct English: Pedoman Belajar Bahasa Inggris. Jakarta : PT. Indeks.

       Wikipedia. (2013). Punctuation. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Punctuation.