2 Main Uses of Apostrophes:

1. To form a contraction:
’
don t ’
can t ’
wouldn t

2. To show possession
’
John s car ’
the boy s bike

’
the workers contract
 Main Use #1: Contraction
In a contraction, two words are combined into
one shorter form.
you + are you’re

The apostrophe almost always marks where a

letter or letters have been taken out to form
the new word.
Think of a contraction as the result of two words
having a head-on collision. During the collision, one or
more letters get lost.

Look how the words do and not are joined to create

don’t.

do + not
When the words
collide, the o is ejected.

donot
The apostrophe goes to mark where
the letter o has been

don’t
 Common Contractions:
• aren’t = are not • let’s = let us
• can’t = can not • she’ll = she will
• didn’t = did not • we’ve = we have
• he’s = he is • would’ve = would
• I’d = I would, I had have
• it’s = it is • you’re = you are
NOTE: The only contraction that doesn’t follow this rule is
won’t, which means will not.
 Main Use #2: Possession
Possessives are words used to show ownership
or belonging. Like contractions, they’re also
formed with the apostrophe.

Example: Professor Walker’s laptop

• the laptop belongs to Professor Walker

• Professor Walker owns the laptop.
Notice that the apostrophe in possessive
words does NOT stand for an omitted
letter like it does in contractions.
__________________________

contraction: don’t (missing o)

possessive: dog’s tail (no missing

letter, the tail belongs to
the dog)
2 rules for adding an apostrophe to
form a possessive

1. If a word ends in –s already, add only the

apostrophe:
’
The students backpacks were stolen from the
classroom during the break.
• If the word does not end in –s, add ’s:

’
The instructor s parking permit was stolen.
 Some words are possessive without
ALERT: the apostrophe. These words are the
possessive pronouns:

my, mine
its
Tip: Be careful his
not to confuse it’s her, hers
and its. your, yours
our, ours
it’s = it is their, theirs
whose
 3 Other Uses for the Apostrophe
1)Used to indicate numbers that have been
omitted.
1995 ‘95
2)Used to show missing letters in slang or
informal speech

going goin’
3)Can be used to form the plural of some
numbers or letters to prevent misreading.
A’s 0’s (plural of zero) 1950s (NO apostrophe)
 Test Your Understanding by
Completing the Directed Learning
Activity

You may want to refer to this

TIP: PowerPoint again while you’re
completing the activity.