Apostrophes—those things that look like single quotes, or maybe commas hanging in the air—have a couple of uses in the English language. First, they are used for contractions. Second, they are used to indicate possession. We are going to talk all about possessives in next week’s blog post (can you wait?). That leaves us with contractions.
Contractions are word combinations with letters left out to save space, I guess. Or perhaps to make it easy to say in conversation. They slide off the tongue much more easily than two separate words. The apostrophe is put in place of the missing letter (or letters). The common words to be shortened in a contraction are not, have, and are (am, is)
Some contractions with not: didn’t, isn’t, aren’t, haven’t, wouldn’t, won’t, can’t.
Some contractions with have: could’ve, would’ve, I’ve, you’ve, we’ve
Some contractions with the to be verb (are, am, is): I’m, you’re, we’re, he’s, it’s, they’re
Well, you know I’m not writing this blog post to talk about contractions. You know all about them. Almost. So here is all I am going to say about contractions, before I move on to when NOT to use apostrophes:
1. In formal writing (as opposed to conversation or a friendly e-mail), I would suggest avoiding some contractions. The contractions with n’t for not are fine, but I would spell out words such as could have, would have, should have, I have, you have, we are, most of the time. In particular I would not use contractions where the shortened word is have. Is it wrong? No. But it does sound more conversational and less professional.
2. Oh, please, remember that the contraction meaning it is is the one with the apostrophe (it’s).
3. Oh, please remember to put the apostrophe in the you’re that means you are (not your)!
Possessives is the topic for next week, so now we have come to the when not to use an apostrophe part.
Turn your attention to the apostrophe man cartoon above. Yup, you have seen the apostrophe used this way. You have seen it on signs, you have seen it in menus, and you have seen it on Facebook. DO NOT USE an apostrophe for plurals. Plural words, unless they are plural possessives, do not have apostrophes! EVER, almost. That means no apostrophes in plural words, numbers, letters, or symbols.
The only time you need an apostrophe in a plural is when the word, number, letter or symbol would be confused with another word if there were no apostrophe. Let’s see…how many things does that include?
If you are talking about the letter A, use an apostrophe to make it plural. Otherwise, it will look like as.
- I got all A’s on my report card.
If you are talking about the letter I, use an apostrophe to make it plural. Otherwise, it will look like is.
- Make sure you capitalize all your pronoun I‘s.
If you are talking about the letter U, use an apostrophe to make it plural. Otherwise, it will look like us.
- There are two u‘s in the word uncut.
It doesn’t matter whether you use the letter in uppercase or lowercase.
Also, note that when you use a letter, number, word, or symbol as itself, it is italicized. However, the apostrophe/s is not in italics. This goes for words, numbers, letters, and symbols without apostrophes as well. The s is not italicized.
- There are too many ands in your sentence. (The s at the end of and is not in italics.)
Yes, this rule applies to numbers too.
- Do you remember the 1960s? (not 1960’s)
- Do you remember the ’60s? (Here, the apostrophe is standing in for the 19, making it a contraction of sorts. But there is no apostrophe after 60.
The letters a, i, and u need apostrophes in their plurals to avoid confusion. That is just about it.
Next week, apostrophes return as we talk about possessives.
Have you ever considered about including a little bit more than just your articles?
I mean, what you say is valuable and everything.
Nevertheless just imagine if you added some great pictures or videos to give your posts more, “pop”!
Your content is excellent but with pics and videos, this blog could undeniably be one of
the greatest in its field. Amazing blog!
Thanks for the comment and suggestion. I am not sure I could find a video to go with my posts!
Hi there! This blog post could not be written much better!
Looking at this post reminds me of my previous roommate!
He constantly kept talking about this. I will send this post to him.
Fairly certain he’s going to have a great read. I appreciate
you for sharing!
Thanks!
Thanks for the added mention of your/you’re. I have seen your used when the writer meant you’re (I correct them) but a lot of folks are confused about that one. Do you think it is because they spell phonically?
I don’t know. I was beginning to think it was just because they were lazy! It is easier to avoid the apostrophe and extra letter! I don’t really know why it is so commonly used incorrectly;people seem to know the difference when you ask them.
I never knew about using apostrophes with vowels, nor was I aware they should be italicized. Thank you for educating me! Love your blog.
Skye
Thanks! Well some people disagree and wouldn’t even use the apostrophe with a, and u, but when used in lowercase you certainly have to because good writing is eliminating confusion. As for the italics, yes, when you use a word as itself, or a letter, number or symbol as itself, rather than a functional part of the sentence, you italicize it, but not always:
There are 25 people in the room(no italics).
This 25 in your report should actually be a 250. (25 and 250 would be italicized)
Arlene,
Just love your little weekly grammar lessons! Easy to digest as they are in nice bit size pieces. Although I purchased your two books and use them as a reference when I have grammar questions, these weekly lessons reinforce what I know and correct what I though I knew. Hopefully your blogs will save me from embarrassing mistakes. What I learned from this apostrophe lesson: (1) When to italicize and not italicize like dot your i’s and cross your t’s (can’t italicize in this post)–I didn’t know that about NOT italicizing the apostrophe, nor the “s.” (2) It’s 1960s not 1960’s and ’60s is OK. I keep forgetting this rule.
Again, thank you for keeping us on our “grammar” toes!
Veronica Valero, http://www.ComputerTutorOfMarin.com
P.S. Hopefully I made no grammar errors in this post 😉
Thank you so much Veronica. I named them “bites” after you mentioned that word to describe them!
I am really enjoying your column on grammar. It clears up a lot of things about grammar that have always bothered me. Thanks so much.
You’re welcome, Ro! Glad you are enjoying it and glad to be of help! Tell your friends about it!
Arlene, you are so awesome. I can’t wait to see what you do next week. I’m always telling people the only single noun that takes just an apostrophe to show possession is Jesus…Jesus’ but is that still the rule? Moses’s????? Do we still clash with the Brits?
Oh, I think I might have to make you wait until next week when we discuss possessives!