The Apostrophe
The apostrophe has two main uses in English.
1. Showing possession (ownership):
- Singular noun: Add 's. The dog's tail, James's car
- Plural noun ending in -s: Add '. The dogs' tails, The teachers' lounge
- Plural noun NOT ending in -s: Add 's. The children's toys, The men's room
2. Showing omission (contractions): Apostrophes replace missing letters in contractions.
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It is ➔ It's, Do not ➔ Don't, I will ➔ I'll, They are ➔ They're, Cannot ➔ Can't
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It's raining outside. (Contraction of "it is")
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The dog wagged its tail. (Possessive — NO apostrophe — this is a common confusion!)
Common Apostrophe Mistakes
- Its vs. It's: Its = possessive; It's = it is or it has.
- Your vs. You're: Your = possessive; You're = you are.
- Their vs. They're vs. There: Their = possessive; They're = they are; There = a place.
- Do NOT use an apostrophe for plurals: Apples for sale ✓, Apple's for sale ✗
Quotation Marks
Quotation marks (also called quotes or inverted commas) are used in pairs to enclose direct speech or a quotation.
1. Direct speech:
- She said, "I will be there soon."
- "Please wait," he said.
2. Titles of short works: Use quotation marks for titles of articles, short stories, poems, and songs.
- I read the article "How to Learn English" yesterday.
- Her poem "The Road Not Taken" is famous.
Punctuation with quotation marks (American English):
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Periods and commas always go inside the closing quotation mark.
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Colons and semicolons go outside.
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Question marks go inside if the quote is a question, outside if the whole sentence is a question.
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He asked, "Are you coming?"
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Did she really say "I quit"?