Apostrophe Rules and Kinds with Examples

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Apostrophe

An apostrophe is a punctuation mark that is used for two purposes.

1.To show possession

We use an apostrophe to show possession when we either want to show that something belongs to someone, or want to describe a relation between two people.

Example:

This is Gino’s hat. That is Mary’s sister. The following rules must be kept in mind when using an apostrophe to show possession.

Rule	Example
An apostrophe comes before ‘S’ if the noun is singular.	This car’s design seems modern.
An apostrophe comes after the ‘S’ if the noun is plural.	The girls’ dresses look nice.
An apostrophe comes before the ’S’ if the noun is an irregular plural.	Let’s go to the children’s nursery.

Some more examples:

A giraffe’s neck is very long. The bottles’ labels have worn out. David’s cousin is my friend. The men’s clothes have gotten wet in the rain.

2.To Punctuate Contractions

We also use an apostrophe to shorten or contract two words together. Here are a few examples:

i am	becomes	I’m
we are	becomes	we’re
you are	becomes	you’re
he is	becomes	lie’s
he has	becomes	he’s
she is	becomes	she’s
she has	becomes	she’s
it is	becomes	it’s
it has	becomes	it’s
they are	becomes	they’re
is not	becomes	isn’t
are not	becomes	aren’t
was not	becomes	wasn’t
were not	becomes	weren’t
let us	becomes	let’s
must not	becomes	mustn’t
I would	becomes	I’d

will not	becomes	won’t.
would not	becomes	wouldn’t
does not	becomes	doesn’t
do not	becomes	don’t
did not	becomes	didn’t
can not	becomes	can’t
could not	becomes	couldn’t
shall not	becomes	shan’t
should not	becomes	shouldn’t