Which sentence correctly shows how the apostrophe is used to form a contraction

The word ‘apostrophe’ comes from the Greek words meaning to turn from or omission. After commas, apostrophes seem to be the most misused punctuation mark.

Apostrophes are used for only two purposes: to indicate a contraction or ownership.

Use the apostrophe with contractions. The apostrophe is always placed where the letter has been removed. For example couldn’t, don't, isn't, you're, she's, it’s- which is “it is.” (N.B. This is the contraction, not the possessive. Possessive pronouns don’t require an apostrophe. For example Whose book is that? NOT Who’s book is that? And That book is his. NOT That book is his’.) Apostrophes can also show an inferred dialect or accent. For example d’you, g’day – the latter showing that several letters have been removed from ‘good day’.
Use the apostrophe to show possession. Place the apostrophe before the s to show singular possession. For example the girl's arm, the father's arm. Singular nouns take an ’s, even if the noun ends with s. for example Mrs Thomas’s bag. Plural and collective nouns not ending in s also take an ’s. e.g. children’s playtime. Plural nouns that end with s have an apostrophe added after the s. For example the students’ books. The scissors’ blades were blunt. Indefinite pronouns can also show ownership by using an apostrophe. For example One – one’s – It is best to mind one’s own business.

Apostrophes are often incorrectly used. The most common mistakes are:

used for plurals
its and it’s
you’re and your
with shortened forms CD’s (incorrect) rather than CDs
indicating decades as 1870’s (incorrect) rather than 1870s.

Apostrophes are not used in the plural form of acronyms or decades. For example URLs or 1950s.

Activities to support the strategy

Activity 1: why contract?

In a text that students are studying, have students highlight the contractions and then substitute the two words that the contraction replaces. Discuss the poetical or practical reasons for contractions, for example, the rhythm and flow of a poem or the true representation of how a character speaks.

Repeat the above activity looking for apostrophes of possession. Identify whether there is one or more owners.

Have students highlight the contractions and then substitute the two words that it replaces. Discuss the poetical as well as practical reasons for contractions.

Activity 2: joint construction

Using the paragraph below on an interactive white board and some cards/ sticky notes with apostrophes and s’s, jointly construct the corrections needed.

Roberto and Kims dogs got into a fight at the neighbours house. One dog lost its collar. The other dog lost its leg. I had to call Franks lawyer to see what he could do. The lawyers name was Phoenix. Frank said I could visit Phoenix house, but I didnt want to drive over there. After all it was Roberto and Kims problem, not mine. Besides, Phoenix fees were outrageous. I left Bob and Kim to go watch a movie. For some reason 27 movie-goers dogs were fighting too. I called the police. They didnt believe me. They said to call someone elses phone, and that if I made one more prank call, they would take away my straight As from my 10th grade report card.

With thanks and approval from Trent Lorcher.

Additional online resources

Students can learn about contraction and possessive apostrophes in the department's interactive resource 'laptop wraps' Putting the apostrophe in its place.

References

Australian curriculum

ACELA1506: Understand how the grammatical category of possessives is signalled through apostrophes and how to use apostrophes with common and proper nouns.

NSW syllabus

EN3-6B: Uses knowledge of sentence structure, grammar, punctuation and vocabulary to respond to and compose clear and cohesive texts in different media and technologies.

Apostrophe

Apostrophe errors often occur when the plural form and the possessive form are confused. Additionally, apostrophes also tend to be used incorrectly with years.

Incorrect:	Joneses yard is much bigger than Smith's.
Incorrect:	My brother graduated from NIU in the early 1990's.

Correcting the Problem

Correct:	Jones's yard is much bigger than Smith's.
Correct:	My brother graduated from NIU in the early 1990s.

Rule to Remember

The apostrophe is used to indicate possessive case, contractions, and omitted letters.

The apostrophe is not strictly a punctuation mark, but more a part of a word to indicate possessive case, contractions, or omitted letters.

Possessives

Apostrophes are used to form the possessive form of a singular noun or a plural noun not ending in s by adding ' and an s at the end. If a plural noun ends in s, only ' should be added.

university's women's students'

Correct:

High school students' scores have been gradually improving over the last several years.

If ownership of something is shared, use 's after the second owner.

Correct:

Bill and Ted's guitar

If ownership of something is separate, use 's after each owner.

Correct:

Bill's and Ted's guitars

Rule to Remember

If ownership of something is shared, use 's after the second owner; otherwise, use 's after each owner.

Contractions

A contraction is one word that is formed by combing two words. As the two words are combined, a letter is (letters are) dropped and an apostrophe is added in its place. Usually, a pronoun and a verb are used when forming contractions.

The following is a list of common contractions:

'd when contracting would or had (he'd)
'm when contracting am (I'm)
's when contracting is or has (she's)
'll when contracting will (I'll)
're when contracting are (they're)
've when contracting have (we've)
n't when negating some helping or linking verbs (wasn't, shouldn't)

Correct:

They'll complete the assignment by tomorrow.

Not is used to form negative contractions with many linking verbs. When making a negative contraction, omit the "o" in "not" and replace it with an apostrophe. The only exception to this rule is will not which contracts to form won't.

Correct:

Don't take my car!

Numbers and Omissions

Numbers can be shortened by adding an apostrophe in place of the omitted number.

Correct:

the class of '07

Correct:

events in the '60s

Be careful using abbreviations in formal writing. In most cases, it is best to spell the numbers out or write them as full numerals.

Rule to Remember

Numbers can be shortened by adding an apostrophe in place of the omitted number.

Plurals of Letters, Words, Numbers, and Signs

An apostrophe and s are also used to form the plural of letters, numbers, signs, and words referring to words.

Correct:

The word Mississippi has many s's.

Correct:

Count incorrectly spelled accent's in your essay.

When Do You NOT Need an Apostrophe?

With time periods and after numbers

Incorrect:

The 1900's = the years between 1900-1999

Correct:

The 1900s = the years between 1900-1999

Incorrect:

MP3's = more than one MP3

Correct:

MP3s = more than one MP3

Rule to Remember

Do not add an apostrophe at the end of a number indicating a time period: 1960s, 1800s, etc.

After symbols:

Correct:

#s = pounds/numbers

After abbreviations:

Correct:

CDs = compact disks

Correct:

DVDs = digital video (or versatile) disks

With possessive pronouns:

its, hers, his, theirs, my, mine, ours, yours, whose

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What is an apostrophe for contraction?

Apostrophes are used for only two purposes: to indicate a contraction or ownership. Use the apostrophe with contractions. The apostrophe is always placed where the letter has been removed. For example couldn't, don't, isn't, you're, she's, it's- which is “it is.” (N.B. This is the contraction, not the possessive.

Which sentence uses an apostrophe correctly?

Only one sentence uses the apostrophes correctly. The American's bridges and roads were vital for moving the troops' supplies.

Do all contractions have apostrophes?

Contractions are two or more words that are combined and shortened to save time. Typically, you can identify a contraction by the apostrophe, as with isn't or they've—but don't confuse contractions with possessive nouns, which also use apostrophes.

What is a word with an apostrophe called?

Contracted words, also known as contractions (the term used in the 2014 revised national curriculum) are short words made by putting two words together. Letters are omitted in the contraction and replaced by an apostrophe. The apostrophe shows where the letters would be if the words were written in full.