GRAMMAR OFFENDER: The Missing or Misplaced Apostrophe

For such a little piece of punctuation, the apostrophe is really noticeable when it’s used wrong, like in the cartoon above. A casual look at ads, signs, and other everyday writing reveals a wildly exotic sprinkling of apostrophes in all kinds of places. That’s why mastering the apostrophes' uses can really bolster your credibility in writing: so many people get them wrong!
What is a missing or misplaced apostrophe?

Readers notice the “little things” and a misused or misplaced apostrophe can reduce your credibility. Missing apostrophes happen when writers neglect to show possession; and misplaced apostrophes are used when writers want to make something plural.

The main thing to know is apostrophes have to main functions: to form possessives and stand in more missing letters in a contraction. Apostrophes are only very rarely used to form plurals. In contrast, plurals are usually formed by adding an “s” or “es” to the end of a noun without an apostrophe.

Possessives use apostrophes.

Possessive forms indicate ownership, or “belonging to.” Possessives are almost always formed by adding an apostrophe and “s” to the end of a noun (a person, place, or thing).

Example: The amendment’s language clarifies the terms left undefined in the original law.

In this sentence language belongs to amendment. No apostrophe is needed to make terms plural.

Example: A review of the month’s headlines reveals nine front-page pieces about the local school board election.

In this sentence headlines belongs to month. No apostrophe is needed to make headlines and pieces plural.

Example: Sara Jones’ study of language use and class is considered a classic in the field.

In this sentence study belongs to Jones and the apostrophe moves to the end of Jones because the noun ends in “s.”

Plurals do not take apostrophes.

The plural forms of these nouns do not need apostrophes to make them plural.

Three key ideas emerged in the introduction.
The organization was restructured after decades of poor performance.
All animals have an innate evolutionary drive to pass along genes to offspring.

But plurals that are also possessive do use apostrophes.
Notice how the position of the apostrophe moves depending on whether the plural ends with “s” or not.

The book traces the Kennedys’ influence on national politics.
The library science degree offers a special emphasis in children’s literature.
The board changes the policy after the stakeholders’ objections.

Apostrophes are also used to stand in for missing letters in a contraction.
A contraction is a way of writing something shorter. It is generally used in common language versus academic writing.

The conclusion doesn’t [does not] follow from the evidence.
Remove the test tubes from the sterilizer when the cycle’s [cycle is] finished.
This committee will file a final report when we’re [we are] done with the applications.

Do not use an apostrophe to form the plurals of numbers or acronyms.
1980s
eights
three CEOs
these JPEGs

Writer’s Tip
If you struggle with missing apostrophes in your writing, locate all nouns and decide whether you need to show possession.

If you struggle with misplaced apostrophes in your writing, locate all apostrophes and analyze whether the apostrophe is there to show possession or a contraction. If you are making a noun plural, you likely do not need the apostrophe. If you are showing possession with a plural noun, then you need the apostrophe, but you might not need the “s.”

Some content adapted from WikiBooks' Rhetoric and Composition: A Guide for College Writers http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Rhetoric_and_Composition used with a CC BY SA license.
Content compiled by Lumen Learning under a CC BY license. Created 2013.
All other content referenced is not covered by this course's CC BY license.