Apostrophes: Contraction and Possession

An apostrophe is a little mark used for two jobs.

It can show ownership. A bag owned by Sam is Sam's bag. Add 's to Sam's name to show this.

It can also stand where letters are left out when two words join. For example, do not shortens to don't. The apostrophe takes the place of the missing o. A shortened form like this is a contraction.

To check a contraction, try turning it back into two words. Many include is, has or not. For ownership, ask who something belongs to.

Consider "it's raining". You can expand it's to it is, so it is a contraction. In "the dog's bone", the dog owns the bone. That apostrophe shows possession.

An apostrophe looks like a tiny comma floating up high. It has two jobs in writing.

The first job is making contractions. A contraction happens when you squish two words together and leave some letters out. The apostrophe sits right where the missing letters used to be. For example, do not becomes don't, and I am becomes I'm.

The second job is showing that something belongs to someone. This is called a possessive noun. Instead of writing "the ball that belongs to Maya," you can write Maya's ball. You just add an apostrophe and an s to the end of the name.

If you can replace the word with is or has or not, it's a contraction. If you are showing who owns something, it's possession.

Possession means something belongs to someone. If a hat belongs to Layla, we say it is Layla's hat.

In English, we use an apostrophe to show this. For most names and singular nouns, just add an apostrophe and the letter s to the end of the word. This works even if the name already ends in s.

For example: - the cat that belongs to Sam becomes Sam's cat - the toy that belongs to Max becomes Max's toy

Try saying the sentence out loud first: "the toy that belongs to Max." Then squish it down to "Max's toy." The apostrophe and s show that Max owns the toy.

Apostrophes are great helpers. They stand in for letters that go missing when we squish two words together to make one shorter word.

Think about the words "do" and "not." When we say them fast, we often say "don't" instead. The apostrophe sits exactly where the o in not used to be.

This shortcut has a name: the Principle of Least Effort. It just means people like to say things in the easiest, fastest way. That is why we say don't instead of do not, and can't instead of cannot.

Remember: a contraction always stands for two words squeezed into one, with the apostrophe marking the missing letters. That is different from an apostrophe that shows something belongs to someone, like Sam's bag.

A possessive noun shows that something belongs to someone or something else.

Instead of saying "the locker that belongs to Yosef," you can just say Yosef's locker.

For one person or one thing, add an apostrophe and the letter s to the end of the word. This rule works even when the word already ends in s.

For example: - the collar that belongs to the dog becomes the dog's collar - the microscope that belongs to the scientist becomes the scientist's microscope