Apostrophes, & Its vs. It's
Never has so small a mark made such a big fuss--it's time to talk apostrophes!
Let's look at a sentence, shall we?
Agnes' DVD's aren't organized alphabetically; its shelf chaos!
Is this sentence correct? *tap tap tap* I hope your increasingly honed grammar skills are at least tingling, but if not--never fear! Grammar guidance is here!
What are the main roles of the apostrophe?
Apostrophes indicate three main things: possession, plurality, and contractions. It's like the lions, tigers, and bears of grammar. Taming takes patience and understanding.
Possession, or whose sock is this?
That's Ricky's sock. I recognize the dinosaurs in bow ties.
If the object belongs to the subject, then apostrophe-s is your construction. The dino socks are possessed by Ricky, thus they are Ricky's socks.
What happens when Agnes claims the sock?
When a word or name ends in S, there are two methods to show possession, and the choice of which method to use is up to you.
Method 1: Add only an apostrophe. Agnes' sock...
Method 2: Add an apostrophe and S. Agnes's sock...
Both are correct. It's all a matter of style, and not many agree 100%. The important part is to be consistent. Don't flip flop methods throughout your paper as you'll risk confusion.
I prefer to skip the extra S because I think it looks clunky. I like Agnes' sock.
Plurality, or Walter rocks a lot of bow ties.
If you have more than one thing, and the plural construction of that thing involves the addition of an S, then please add the S, and let it be.
Apostrophe-S is for possessives. S by itself is for plurals.
Walter rocks a lot of bow tie's is incorrect. This means the bow tie (singular) owns something, like a polka dot: The bow tie's yellow polka dots are pretty.
This isn't about a single bow tie, though (as cool as it is); this is about Walter's collection of bow ties (plural). Basically, if you have many bow ties, and not a single bow tie, then let the S stick with its buddies: bow ties. Don't add an apostrophe!
Contractions, or I shan't attend the garden party; they've invited so many words!
Contractions happen when two words join forces, and become one! The apostrophe earmarks the letters that went missing in the word-downsizing:
Shan't = Shall Not
They've = They Have
Don't = Do Not
Aren't = Are Not
He'd = He Had
Some argue that contractions should never be used in academic writing. They're informal, and should be confined to informal writing styles. However, the rules on this have fuzzy edges, so it really comes down to style preferences.
I'm old school, and say avoid them in formal settings. However, if you use contractions, make sure you have your apostrophes present to represent the departed letters!
I shall not attend the garden party, but they're still going to use my apostrophe.
How do you show possession with multiple subjects?
This is known as compound possession, and it depends on whether or not your subjects share the object or not. If they do share (which is quite nice of them), then the possessive form goes with the second person only:
Paul and Lorraine’s cat likes to wear sweaters.
Paul and Lorraine share one cat, who likes sweaters, so the second subject, Lorraine, is the only one who needs the possessive form: Paul and Lorraine’s…
If the subjects each have their own object, then the possessive form is used for both subjects:
Paul’s and Lorraine’s dancing is quite exuberant!
Paul and Lorraine each have their own dance style, so both subjects show possession: Paul’s and Lorraine’s…
Now for the big one: Its versus It's.
Drum roll, please! Grammar is fun--remember this--because those lovely rules we've reviewed just flipped.
Its versus It's doesn't play nicely, but if you think about contractions first, then this gets easier.
It's almost spring!
It-apostrophe-S is a contraction for It Is: It is almost spring! The apostrophe is place holding for the second Ifrom Is: It's shelf chaos!
Its (no apostrophe) is possessive. Third person singular owns a sock, too: Its sock...
The clearest explanation of why this madness exists is that Its is a possessive pronoun, like His and Hers, but it kind of falls apart with One's.
Just remember with Its versus It's--if the sentence needs "it is," write It's (WITH an apostrophe), and if "It" claims ownership, then drop the apostrophe: Its.
Let's review!
Agnes' DVD's aren't organized alphabetically; its shelf chaos!
There are a couple of apostrophes causing a ruckus here, but we have the tools to fix it!
Let's start with what's correct:
Agnes' is right because the object belongs to Agnes. (This could also be written Agnes's.)
Aren't means are not, so the apostrophe is standing in for missing letters in the contraction.
Let's fix the wrong stuff:
DVD's is possessive, so we need to make it plural (like Walter's bow ties): DVDs with no apostrophe.
Its is also possessive. As is, this could be re-written as Agnes' shelf chaos, which doesn't make sense. We need to say It is shelf chaos, so to the contraction form we go! It's shelf chaos!
Agnes' DVDs aren't organized alphabetically; it's shelf chaos!
Resources:
Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips: Apostrophe Catastrophe (Part One)
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