THE MIGHTY APOSTROPHE

Theapostrophehasonlyahandfulof
uses,buttheseusesarevery
important.Amisplacedapostrophe
canbeannoyingnottomention
lonely.

Theapostropheisused:
1.tocreatepossessives
2.toshowcontractions
3.tocreatesomepluralforms
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THE MIGHTY APOSTROPHE

Theapostropheisusedtocreate
possessiveformsforsingularand
pluralnouns,especiallynouns
referringtopeople.
themayorscar,myfathersmoustache
Pedritossister,JoeKennedyshabits

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THE MIGHTY APOSTROPHE

Whenanounalreadyendsins,you
candecidewhetherornottouse
anothersaftertheapostrophe.
CharlesscarORCharlescar
Withmultisyllabicwords,dontaddanothers
aftertheapostrophe.
Dumassecondnovel,Jesusbirth,
Socratesideas,Illinoislegislature
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THE MIGHTY APOSTROPHE

Toformthepossessiveofaninanimate
object,wereusuallybetteroffusingan
ofphrase,buttheapostrophe
possessiveisnotimpossible,especially
withexpressionsoftimeandin
personifications.
Theroarofthegreasepaint,
thesmellofthecrowd
ayearssalary,myheartsdesire,your
dollarsworth,thepapersconclusion

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THE MIGHTY APOSTROPHE

Toformthepossessiveofapluralnoun,we
pluralizefirstandthenaddtheapostrophe.

TheKennedyshouse

Thechildrensplayhouse
Thetravelersexpectations

Noticethatwithanirregularplural,theapostrophe
willcomebeforethes.
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THE MIGHTY APOSTROPHE

Acontractionallowsustoblendsoundsby
omittinglettersfromaverbconstruction.The
apostropheshowswheresomethingisleftout.

Iamastudenthere=Imastudenthere.
Ihavebeenworkingontherailroad.=Ive
beenworkingontherailroad.
Theycouldhavebeengreattogether.=They
couldvebeengreattogether.

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THE MIGHTY APOSTROPHE

Morecontractionexamples:
Letusgo.=Letsgo.
Whoisthere?=Whosthere?
ItisDierdre.=ItsDierdre.
REMINDER:Itsisacontractionforitis;
thepossessiveofit=its(noapostrophe).
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THE MIGHTY APOSTROPHE

Theapostropheisalsousedtoformthe
pluralofdigitsandletters...

ThewordMississippihasfourss.

ShegotthreeAsandtwoBslastsemester.
Shedottedallherisverycarefully.
...andtoindicateomissionofanumberina
date:
summerof99;classof38
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THE MIGHTY APOSTROPHE

Themightyapostrophedoesntmind
beingused,butitwantstobeused
wisely.
Useitwellanditwillbetherewhenever
youneedit!
Youcannowreviewtheapostropheandthe
othermarksofpunctuationinthe
GuidetoGrammarandWriting.
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This PowerPoint presentation was created by

Charles Darling, PhD
Professor of English and Webmaster
Capital Community College
Hartford, Connecticut
copyright November 1999

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