Apostrophe (')

Used to combine words and indicate ownership, the apostrophe also has some tricky edge cases we need to be aware of.

Introduction

Apostrophes resemble a single quotation mark. They are primarily used to indicate ownership and to combine words in informal speech, but they can be a little tricky to use in some cases.

Use Cases

Possessives

When one noun belongs to another, an apostrophe and the letter s can be used to reflect this relationship.

This can become a little more complicated when it comes to using apostrophes with different kinds of nouns, as seen in the cases below.

There are more of these rules, but this should cover the basics.

If you are interested in the full set, they are outlined in the Australian Government Style Manual. Some specific edge cases are also covered in The Punctuation Guide.

In addition, whenever a sentence involving a possessive is technically correct, but awkwardly phrased, simply rewrite the sentence to improve clarity.

Contractions

In informal writing, some words can be combined to form a contraction. A contraction removes one or more letters from the combined words and places an apostrophe (with no space on either side) between them.

Contractions have a bad reputation in formal writing and thus should be avoided in essays and professional reports.

That said, there is a place for them in most other types of writing because, without them, language can appear cold and unwelcoming.

Common Errors

There are two particular words which may contain apostrophes that can cause confusion (it's and let's).

It's vs its

It's is the contracted form of it is.

However, can it's also be a possessive? As in, can it own something?

Well, it can own something, but we don't use an apostrophe to show this. Thus, the possessive form of it is its.

Fortunately, there is a handy trick we can use to help us remember which form to use.

Whenever we are unsure whether to write its or it's, we can simply read a sentence back to ourselves saying it is in full.

If the sentence makes sense, our writing is correct. If it is not, we need to change the sentence.

Let's vs lets

Lets is the third person present tense form of the verb let.

Let's is the contracted form of let and us. As in, why don't we.

Consider an example that includes both of these words.

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