Grammar 101: insider tips and tricks to instantly improve your writing (part 2)

Hannah Lawrence
A professional man sits at a desk, writing notes with a laptop open in front of him.
Reading time: 5 minutes

As a proofreader and editor, I'm often asked to explain the rules of grammar. I answered three of the most common questions in the first post of this series, and now it's time to look at another frequent query: how to use apostrophes.Where do they go? When are they needed? And when should they be left out entirely?

Apostrophes might be small but they can cause big confusion because they are used both to indicate posession and to contract words. But the good news is that there are clear, simple patterns to follow, which we'll explore, along with exceptions to watch out for.Whether you’re writing a report or just a text message, these tips will help you use apostrophes correctly and confidently.

Apostrophes with ease: posession

Apostrophes show possession: they tell us something belongs to someone or something.When we want to show possession for regular plurals (when a word needs an "s" to make it plural), the apostrophe goes at the end and no further "s" is added:

  • The teachers' association
  • The campaigners' letter
  • The dogs' dinner

Whereas, when we want to show posession for either a single noun or an irregular plural (for example, children, geese), we add an "apostrophe s":

  • Sarah's car
  • ɫèAV's assessment tools
  • The children's presents
  • The geese's pond

Single names that end in an “s” get an “apostrophe s” but plural names get only an apostrophe:

  • Mrs Jones’s car
  • James's cat
  • Whole Foods’ offices
  • Starbucks' nearest store

There's one exception that's important to note: "its" and "it's". The posessive form "its" does not have an apostrophe: "it's" always means "it is".

  • The cat ate its food

Apostrophes with ease: contractions

Contracted words are the combined and shortened forms of two words, which are commonly used in everyday writing and speech to sound more natural and conversational. They're made by omitting certain letters and replacing them with an apostrophe: for example, in "don't", it replaces the missing “o” from not.

When you miss one or more letters, use an apostrophe:

  • "would not" becomes "wouldn’t"
  • "cannot" becomes "can’t"
  • "we are" becomes "we're"
  • and, as before, "it is" becomes "it's"

When not to use apostrophes

A common mistake is using apostrophes when making words plural or when refering to decades and numbers. For example:

  • The 1980s had the best music (not "The 1980's")
  • Many people retire from working in their 70s (not "their 70's")
  • I bought some apples at the store (not "apple's")
Using apostrophes: simple tips to improve your writing skills
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Test your knowledge

Now you know the basic rules of apostrophes, it's time to check your knowledge.

Which sentence is correct?:

  1. The childrens break time has finished
  2. The childrens' break time has finished
  3. The children's break time has finished

It's sentence 3. We want to show posession – break time belongs to the children – and "children" is plural so it gets an "apostrophe s".
Now try these sentences and see if you can figure out which one is right:

  1. When you're walking my dog, its important to remember it's collar.
  2. When you're walking my dog, it's important to remember its collar.
  3. When youre walking my dog, it's important to remember it's collar.

The correct answer is 2. "You're" is a contraction of "you are", "it is important" so we use "it's" and we show that the collar belongs to the dog by using "its". Finally:

  1. Luis' daughter won't go to sleep.
  2. Luis's daughter wont go to sleep.
  3. Luis's daughter won't go to sleep.

Here, the right answer is 3. "Luis" is a single name, so gets an "apostrophe s", and "will not" is shortened to "won't".

Hopefully you now feel more confident in using apostrophes in your writing. Look out for the next post in this series, where we’ll explore more common grammar mistakes and how to avoid them.

Read our blog posts "11 fascinating facts about English"and "Grammar 101: insider tips and tricks to instantly improve your writing (part 1)".

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    Standard comma or Oxford comma?

    An Oxford comma goes before "and" or "or" at the end of a list. The first example has an Oxford comma, the second doesn't.

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    • Please bring me a sandwich made with cheese, lettuce and tomato.

    American English generally favors the Oxford comma, British English typically omits it, unless needed for clarity. Compare:

    • I love my parents, Taylor Swift and Keanu Reeves.
    • I love my parents, Taylor Swift, and Keanu Reeves.

    As with many areas of punctuation, whether you choose to use the Oxford comma is a matter of personal preference. However, the most important thing is to be consistent in your usage.

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