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When To Use Apostrophe

The apostrophe has two main uses: to show missing letters in contractions and to indicate possession. It is placed after the possessive noun to show ownership, or before the s in plural nouns that are possessive. Apostrophes are rarely used to make nouns plural, except in specific cases like acronyms, numbers, or letters.

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NABILAH PUTRI LINAS
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24 views

When To Use Apostrophe

The apostrophe has two main uses: to show missing letters in contractions and to indicate possession. It is placed after the possessive noun to show ownership, or before the s in plural nouns that are possessive. Apostrophes are rarely used to make nouns plural, except in specific cases like acronyms, numbers, or letters.

Uploaded by

NABILAH PUTRI LINAS
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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When do we use Apostrophes?

There are two basic uses of the apostrophe in English:

1 - To show that letters or numbers are missing.

In contractions, we use an apostrophe to indicate that a letter is missing:

 Isn't = is not
 '72 = 1972

2 - To show possession

If something belongs to a person or thing, we use an apostrophe to show ownership:

 Jane's house is in a nice area. (The house belongs to Jane)

We put the apostrophe after the letter s in a plural:

 The girls' mother collected them from school. (There were two or more girls)

NB: With irregular plurals, we put the apostrophe before the letter s:

Read more at
http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/apostrophes.html#LK3XX0Vu6oEvF5Am.99

 The children's teacher was very popular.

The apostrophe with plurals


We very rarely use the apostrophe to show plurals and only under special circumstances:

 Some people use them with acronyms (words made from the first letters of a phrase, like
CD for Compact Disc)- CD's. Others do not use the apostrophe here.
 Numbers- Some people write the 1990's and others write the 1990s.
 To make a letter plural- mind your p's and q's (an expression meaning 'mind your
manners')

Other than these circumstances, the apostrophe should not be used in plurals unless they are
showing possession.

Read more at
http://www.usingenglish.com/articles/apostrophes.html#LK3XX0Vu6oEvF5Am.99
Summary: What is a comma splice and how can it be
avoided?
Where a sentence has two parts that could stand alone as sentences, with only a comma to
separate them, it is a comma splice:

 I went outside, I needed a break.

The two parts here are both complete sentences and should not be joined by a comma. There are
three basic ways of avoiding this:

1. Write them as two independent sentences: I went outside. I needed a break. (However,
using this too often can make the writing rather choppy if there are too many short
sentences.)
2.  Separate them with a semi-colon: I went outside; I needed a break.
3.  Use a conjunction: I went outside because I needed a break.

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