5b12. The Apostrophe

The apostrophe is used to show ownership. Most of the time, it presents no confusion: Bob's bassoon, the woman's finger. The tricky part is using an apostrophe when the owner is plural.

RULES FOR APOSTROPHES

1. if the plural noun doesn't end in -s, add an apostrophe and -s. (This is the easy part.)

the women's fingers
the bacteria's growth
the mice's hairballs

2. If the plural ends in -s, just add an apostrophe.

the babies' bottoms
the horses' hooves
the politicians' promises

3. If the word is a proper noun that ends in -s, add an apostrophe and an -s. (This is the part people get wrong.)

Yeats's poem
Ross's riddle
Chris's crisis

 

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