Apostrophe Rules and Usage

Apostrophe Rules and Usage

The apostrophe is a punctuation mark which is used in English language for following main purposes:

To show the omission of one or more letters. For example, in different contracted forms.

• I’m – short for I am
• He’s – short for He is or he has
• It’s – short for It is
• He’d – short for He had or He would
• Didn’t – short for Did not

To show possessive case of nouns, meaning, to show that a thing or person belongs to someone or something.

• The dog’s tail is long.
• Today’s weather is good.
• Ria’s party has been postponed. 
• The children’s mother worked late till night. 

With a plural noun that already ends in -s: add an apostrophe after the s:

• It’s a girls’ school.

To show the plurals of single letters.

• Underline all the a’s in Guavas.
• Circle all the 7’s on the sheet. 

It’s or Its?

Now you should know the difference between It’s (with apostrophe) and Its (without apostrophe). Remember, 

• “Its” is a possessive form of the pronoun it, meaning belonging to it. For example: The dog wagged its tail. 
• It’s is a contraction of “It is”. For example: It is a good dog.