apostrophe
part of speech
noun (an apostrophe, apostrophes)
meaning for a pupil
1) An apostrophe is a punctuation mark (') used to show that letters are missing in a shortened word: «don't» means «do not». tree →
2) An apostrophe also shows that something belongs to someone: «Sam's bag». tree →
3) (literature, formal) An apostrophe is also when a speaker in a poem talks directly to someone absent or a thing, like «O Moon!». tree →
sense in the lessons
In English lessons pupils learn apostrophes for contraction («can't», «it's», «I'm») and for possession («the dog's bone», one dog; «the dogs' bones», more than one dog; «the children's toys»). A common mistake is the «greengrocer's apostrophe», putting an apostrophe in an ordinary plural, like «apple's for sale». Teachers often check «its» and «it's».
examples
- «Don't» has an apostrophe where the «o» is missing. tree →
- This is Mia's coat. tree →
- The girls' changing room is on the left. tree →
- «It's» means «it is»; «its» means «belonging to it». tree →
- Do not use an apostrophe to make a plural: «bananas», not «banana's». tree →
- «The children's paintings» uses «'s» because «children» is already plural. tree →
- «Who's» means «who is». tree →
note
Plural «apostrophes»; «an apostrophe». Say «a-POS-truh-fee». Biggest traps: «its» (no apostrophe) means belonging to it; «it's» means «it is» or «it has». Plurals do not take an apostrophe unless showing possession. For a plural ending in «s», put the apostrophe after the «s»: «the teachers' room».
In the corpora
- An apostrophe never makes a plural.
- «The teachers were happy» needs no apostrophe; «the teacher's desk» means the desk of one teacher.
- An apostrophe is never used to make a plural; «teacher's» means belonging to one teacher.
- Apostrophes cause the worst muddles.
- Say the long form; if it fits, use the apostrophe.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «apostrophe» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.