Apostrophe Rules
Apostrophes are small, curled punctuation marks that are suspended near the top of specific letters in a word. Grammatical rules tell us when we should or should not use an apostrophe.
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Types
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Two primary uses of an apostrophe are to indicate possessives or to omit letters from a word. There are also rules for pluralized letters.
Function
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These rules are used in formal, business and academic writing and are taught by language teachers and professors.
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Possessives
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The rule for possessives is that an apostrophe should be placed at the end of a word, followed by an "s". If the word already ends in an "s," the apostrophe will end the word.
Omissions
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When a letter is left out of a word, either colloquially or informally, an apostrophe is inserted. This rule encompasses contractions and slang.
Plurals
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The rule for apostrophes in plurals is limited. It only concerns individual letters being pluralized. The letter is followed by an apostrophe, then an "s."
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