10 ways you can misuse apostrophes – and cause no end of trouble!

How can there be so many ways to be wrong with such a tiny swoosh of type? 

The use of apostrophes has to be one of the most vexed issues in English grammar and punctuation, and one of the biggest bugbears for editors. 

For many people, the rules for the use of this mighty little punctuation mark seem so complicated they give up and no longer care, so they liberally spread them around where they are neither needed nor wanted.  Confusion reigns!  

As an editor, sometimes I get so bamboozled by what people have done with apostrophes that I start to doubt what is right! 

I became a reader of roadside signs and business hoardings from a very young age, and I am still constantly amazed by the creative ways people misuse the humble apostrophe in public. 

This tradie (or their signwriter) was clearly very confused. I’m dying to know why some plurals got an apostrophe while others didn’t.

What does an apostrophe actually do? 

In simple terms, apostrophes have two functions. 

1. They show possession. i.e. Jane’s ball = this ball belongs to Jane.   

2. They show where a letter has been dropped to shorten a word or phrase – can’t, don’t, won’t, shan’t. It’s not always replacing just one letter. As with the last two of my list, the apostrophe actually changes the construction. Will not becomes won’t. Shall not becomes shan’t. 

 It’s really all about the letter s 

The real culprit in the apostrophe equation, particularly in the first usage, is the letter s.  

In the English language the letter s, as well as just being a normal a part of the word such as press, is also used to turn a single noun into a plural – one head, two heads.  

The letter s is also used to indicate possession – see Jane’s ball above. 

For me, this is what causes all the chaos.  

The humble s is being called on to do too many things, all in the same space at the end of a word.  

Add in a word that already ends in s and this way madness lies.  

And then there are the plurals that don’t end in s at all! 

Who cares? 

When it comes down to it, does it actually matter?   

Well yes it does. Of course I’d say that. I’m an editor.  

I care about the correctness of grammar and writing, but there’s more to it than that.  

It can affect the meaning of all sorts of documents, potentially leading to misunderstandings and even ending up in court.  

Take this mock example from a will. 

"I leave my estate to be shared equally amongst my brother’s wives, my nephew’s daughters, and my sister’s sons." 

So who gets the loot? This suggests that only one brother, one nephew, and one sister are involved.  How would it change things if the apostrophes were moved? 

"I leave my estate to be shared equally amongst my brothers’ wives, my nephews’ daughters, and my sisters’ sons." 

Can you pick the difference?  

A few more (very grateful) people benefit in the second version.  

A small apostrophe mistake like this could lead to nasty legal stoushes! 

So let’s get serious about our apostrophes.  

Whether you're a seasoned writer or just getting started, you need to know where to put them, so here’s how to avoid perpetrating grammatical and punctuation crimes. 

• 1. Never use apostrophes in simple plurals 

  Some people see an s at the end of a word and automatically stick in an apostrophe before it, whether it’s needed or not (usually not!) 

  How often do you see the equivalent of apple's when it just means apples - refer tradie’s sign above.  

  It just makes me sigh and want to take out my red texta.  

  Apostrophes should never be used when you make a word plural.  

  Just add an s or es to the end of the word and you’re apples. 

• 2. The quagmire that is possessive nouns 

  This is where it gets tricky.  

  For singular nouns, including those that already end in s, you add an apostrophe and an s (e.g. the cat's toys, Chris’s boat).  

  For plural nouns that already end in s you add only an apostrophe (e.g. the cats' toys).  

  However, for irregular plurals that do not end in s, you add an apostrophe and an s (e.g. the children's books, the oxen’s horns).  

  This is just the beginning! 

• 3. Putting apostrophes in contractions 

  Contractions are formed by combining two words and using an apostrophe to replace the omitted letters.  

  People frequently put the apostrophe in the wrong spot, such as does'nt instead of doesn't.  

  The apostrophe goes where the letters have been removed. No exception.  

• 4. Confusing its and it's 

  This is a doozy and a really common mistake.  

  Its is a possessive pronoun (something belongs to it), while it's is a contraction of it is or it has.  

  They are often confused so you get it's when referring to possession (e.g. the dog chased it's tail instead of the correct the dog chased its tail).  

  A quick check to see if you’ve got it right - if you can replace the word with it is or it has, then it's is correct; otherwise, use its.  

  The company is proud of its achievements. Not The company is proud of it’s achievements. 

• 5. Possession is nine tenths of the apostrophe law, except with pronouns 

  You’ve gotta love exceptions to the rules.  

  Pronouns – hers, ours, yours and theirs - do not use apostrophes to show possession.  

  They are what is called possessive pronouns so intrinsically indicate possession and don’t need an apostrophe to do that job.  

  So her’s or our’s is a no-no.  

• 6. They don’t belong with decades and abbreviations either 

  Are you a child of the ‘70s, the ‘80’s or the ‘90s? See what I did there?  

  An apostrophe at the beginning to replace the missing 19, but none at the end, as it’s a simple plural.  

  So, the 1990s, not the 1990’s.  

  Same goes for abbreviations.  You don’t use apostrophes to form plurals, so CDs not CD's.   

• 7. Compounding the possessives problem 

  When two or more people own something jointly, only the last name should have an apostrophe (e.g. Jack and Jill's cars).  

  However, if they each own separate items of the same thing, each name should have an apostrophe (e.g. Jack's and Jill's cars).  

• 8. Apostrophes don’t belong with verbs 

  Back to our words that end in s where apostrophes shouldn’t come within cooee. The present tense of many verbs end in s. He runs.  She runs. No apostrophe.  EVER.  

• 9. An exception that provides clarity 

  Although you don’t use an apostrophe to pluralise numbers, you can do it with letters if it makes things clearer.   

  Think of mind your p’s and q’s.  

  Without the apostrophe it becomes ps – which already has a meaning of its own – and qs, which is a common initialism for quantity surveyor.   

  Putting in the apostrophe indicates you are talking about more than one of the letters in question. 

• 10. When you’re talking about time 

  You’ve probably never thought about this one, but time expressions often require apostrophes to indicate possession - a day's work or a week's notice.  

  Leaving the apostrophe out can change the meaning and can lead to confusion.  

  Always use an apostrophe to show possession in these cases.  

  So was the movie title Two Weeks Notice right or wrong? 

Clearer about using apostrophes now? 

You can’t get away from apostrophes.  

They are one of the annoying but essential building blocks of our language.  

The more you pay attention to how they are used, the better and more instinctive will they become in your writing.  

In this day and age, there’s really no excuse for such basic mistakes appearing in a piece of finished writing. There are so many proofing and correction tools at your disposal, starting with the spelling and grammar checker in your word processing or writing software. 

Then there’s free grammar checkers like Grammarly and if you want to really get into the ins and outs of usage consult the editor’s bible, the Australian Government Style Manual. 

The final rule: always proofread your work or get someone else – like the professionals at On the Same Page Consulting - to do it. 

Happy writing!