First of all, one must know where adding an apostrophe is necessary.
There are three uses of an apostrophe which are mentioned below:
1) Contractions
Contraction is the short form created by combining two words with the use of an apostrophe. For example: don’t, it’s, couldn’t, etc.
2) Plurals
The apostrophe is rarely used for exhibiting a plural meaning. However, though rarely used, the examples are significant. For example:
We definitely got more no’s than yes’s. Here no’s and yes’s is used instead of yeses and noes.
3) Possessive Form
We will discuss this case in detail explaining what are the apostrophe s rules.
The general rule of Possessive Form
In this rule, one needs to add an apostrophe and an s after that to form possessive of singular nouns. This rule is applicable irrespective of the last alphabet of the singular noun. Examples:
- The doctor’s fee is too high.
- Jones’ first book is launched today
- The boy’s parents are coming to meet the teachers.
- Jesus’s words are always true.
- Everyone’s dream doesn’t change into reality.
- Texas’s cowboys are cool.
- Xerox’s owner is not in the shop.
- Dog’s fur is so smooth.
- The child’s pencil is lost somewhere.
- A month’s vacation seems to give enough relaxation.
In the case of a plural noun, there are two different rules of writing possessives:
When the plural nouns end with s, there is only the need for putting an apostrophe after s. Here are examples:
- Doctors’ fees are too high.
- Teachers’ time schedule is too cumbersome.
- The girls’ dancing room is already occupied.
- Five months’ vacation to Europe is what I need.
- The leopards’ area starts here.
- Ten years’ experience is enough for this job.
- Helpers’ jobs never get complete.
- Businesses’ primary aim is to provide better customer satisfaction.
- Eyes’ sight is soo pleasing.
- The twins’ parents are not in the hospital.
When the plural nouns don’t end with s, one needs to put an apostrophe after nouns and an s after that. In other words, the same rule is applicable which is true when nouns are singular. Here are examples:
- The children’s play area is wonderful.
- men’s hair oil is on discount.
- Teeth’s pain is increasing.
- People’s government is just not true.
- Formulae’s derivations are tough to learn.
Is it Chris’s or Chris’?
According to the general rule for possessive form, the correct one would be Chris’s because when it is a singular noun, we put an apostrophe after the noun and an s after the apostrophe.
Similarly, what is correct James or James’s? In this case, if you wish to write a possessive, James’s is the correct one.
General Rule’s Exceptions
1) In case if a singular noun is written in the form of a plural noun, we only use an apostrophe and doesn’t put an s after that.
Consider this example: Do you know which is the United States’ best national park? In this case, though the United States is singular, it is written ina plural form. Therefore, the apostrophe comes after the word, and no s is required.
There is another example here: My father went to the Beatles’ first concert in his younger years. Here, the Beatles is written in the plural form.
2) When nouns end with an s sound and followed by the word’s sake, we only put an apostrophe and eliminate s after that.
For instance, consider this sentence: Please do not beat him for goodness’ sake. The goodness word ends with an s sound and followed by the word’s sake. Therefore, even though it is not plural, there is no need to put an s after the apostrophe.
Here is another example: You should always do what you like for happiness’ sake.
3) There are proper nouns that are already used as their possessives so we leave them unaltered.
Check out this sentence: Rosy’s Antiques is amongst the most famous antique shops in the town. Here, Rosy’s antique is a proper noun. Therefore, it should be kept unaltered.
Similarly, go through this example: McDonald’s burgers are my favorite ones. There is no need to change McDonald’s in any case.
Shared Possessives and Individual Possessives
- When two or more people or things have some joint possession, then we only write the second one as possessive.
- When two or more nouns have individual possessions, then, for both the nouns we write the possessive form.
Consider the below-given sample sentences:
- Sam and Mary’s house is at the corner of the street.
- Sam’s and Mary’s houses are at the corner of the street.
In sample sentence 1, the apostrophe is only used after Mary whereas, in sample sentence 2, it is used after both the nouns. Sentence 1 indicates that Sam and Mary live in the same house which is at the corner of the street. However, the second sentence indicates that both are living in different houses and both the houses are located at the corner of the street. You must note that the noun ‘houses’ is plural here.
How to avoid awkward possessives?
There can be situations where you need to use a possessive after a possessive. In such a case, consider re-writing the sentence to avoid awkward possessives.
Consider the sentence here: Let’s meet at Mary’s dad’s house. Instead of writing it this way, you can choose to write it as: Let’s meet at the house of Mary’s dad.
Here is another example for you: Albert’s cat’s name is sushi. It could be easily re-written as: The name of Albert’s cat is Sushi.
Use of apostrophe with other punctuations
One must note that while writing a sentence no other punctuation must appear between a word and its following apostrophe. This is applicable for a plural noun also. You must use the apostrophe just after the word and then write the other punctuation.
Here is an example for you: These black coats are of lawyers,’ but the white ones are of doctors.’
The above-given sentence is wrong. It should be written as:
These black coats are of lawyers’, but the white ones are of doctors’.
The apostrophe is just after the words lawyers and doctors. The comma should be placed after the apostrophe and the same is applicable for full-stop. Moreover, this rule is applicable for all the punctuations irrespective of whether the word is singular or plural.