The Apostrophe

 

The Apostrophe

The apostrophe is a punctuation mark. It serves primarily two functions:

 to indicate possession and to form contractions.

1. Possession:

One of the primary roles of the apostrophe is to indicate possession or ownership.

·         For singular nouns, the apostrophe is followed by an "s" to denote possession, as in "the cat's tail."

·         For plural nouns ending in "s," the apostrophe is placed after the "s," as in "the students' notebooks."

·         For plural nouns not ending in "s," the apostrophe is followed by an "s," similar to singular possessive nouns, as in "the children's toys."

Examples:

1. The dog's collar
2. The children's playground
3. Sarah's book
4. The company's logo
5. My friend's advice
6. The birds' nests
7. The student's desk
8. The teachers' lounge
9. The cat's food
10. The employees' uniforms

 

2. Contractions:

Apostrophes are also used in contractions, where two words are combined into one, with letters omitted and replaced by an apostrophe.

For example,

      i.        "can not" becomes "can't,"

    ii.        "do not" becomes "don't,"

   iii.        "it is" becomes "it's."

   iv.        "I will" becomes "I'll."

    v.        "I am" becomes "I'm."

   vi.        "They have" becomes "They've."

  vii.        "We are" becomes "We're."

viii.        "He would" becomes "He'd."

   ix.        "She will" becomes "She'll."

    x.        "You have" becomes "You've."

3. Compound Possessives:

When two or more nouns possess something jointly, the apostrophe is placed only after the last noun.

"Raju and Neeta’s house" indicates a house belonging to both John and Mary.

For example:

1. Rohan and Priya's apartment
2. Raj and Simran's wedding
3. Vikram and Meera's vacation
4. Arjun and Ayesha's home
5. Sanjay and Pooja's anniversary
6. Rahul and Anjali's party
7. Amit and Neha's pet
8. Deepak and Rani's kitchen
9. Siddharth and Maya's garden
10. Aakash and Nisha's project