Meaning & use
apostrophe
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Meanings
nouncountable
The punctuation mark ' used to show that something belongs to someone, or that letters have been left out of a word.
Grammar: Used for possession (Anna's book) and contractions (don't).
Patterns
- an apostrophe in something
- add an apostrophe
Add an apostrophe before the s in Maria's bag.
The apostrophe in don't replaces the letter o.
He forgot the apostrophe in the word it's.
nouncountable or uncountabletechnical
A moment in a poem or speech where the speaker suddenly talks to someone absent, dead or imaginary, or to an object.
Grammar: Used in literature: an apostrophe to the moon.
Patterns
- an apostrophe to something
The poem opens with an apostrophe to the sea.
Her speech used apostrophe, calling on the fallen heroes.
Students found an apostrophe addressed to death.
Word forms
| plural | apostrophes |
|---|
Common combinations
- use an apostrophe
- Use an apostrophe to show who owns the hat.
- missing apostrophe
- The sign had a missing apostrophe.
- apostrophe s
- Add apostrophe s to singular nouns.
- misplaced apostrophe
- A misplaced apostrophe changed the meaning.
- possessive apostrophe
- The possessive apostrophe goes after the owner.
Synonyms and how they differ
- address
- Address is the general word for speaking to someone, while apostrophe names a literary device.
- single quote
- A single quote looks the same but opens or closes a quotation, whereas an apostrophe does not.
Word family
- apostrophize verb
- to speak to an absent person or thing in a dramatic way
- apostrophic adjective
- relating to an apostrophe in speech or writing
Commonly confused: apostrophe or catastrophe? apostrophe or its/it's?
apostrophe vs catastrophe
A catastrophe is a disaster; the two words end in a similar way but have unrelated meanings.
apostrophe vs its/it's
It's takes an apostrophe because it means it is or it has; its shows ownership and takes none.
Practice
Which sentence uses an apostrophe correctly?
Choose one answer.
Dog's shows that the bowl belongs to the dog. Banana's is a wrongly formed plural, its needs it's, and childrens needs children's.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “apostrophe”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.