Iain Wood from Belgium asks:
When I went to school, the apostrophe was used to integrate another word, such as 'it's mine' (it is mine). But when the apostrophe was placed AFTER the word, such as 'Johns' house', the apostrophe was used to indicate that the house belongs to John. Everyday on the 成人快手 one can find instances where the apostrophe can be found between the 'n' and the 's'. Can you tell me why?
Gareth Rees replies
Listen to Gareth's answer
Hello Iain. Thank you for your question concerning the use of the apostrophe, which is an area of language that causes problems for native speakers too. We do indeed use the apostrophe when we contract a word. So, as in your example, it is mine can become it's mine, with 'it's' being spelt I-T-apostrophe-s. Other examples of this use of the apostrophe include I'll, I'd, and we're.
We also use the apostrophe, usually with the letter 's', to indicate possession, and this is where you need to be careful. The house that belongs to John can be called John's house, and note that the spelling is J-O-H-N-apostrophe-S. When indicating possession, this is the normal form and spelling.
However, if the word that takes the apostrophe is a name which ends in the letter 's', there are two possibilities. Take for example the name Peter Jones, which ends in an 's'. If we are talking about his house, we can say Peter Jones's house, spelt J-O-N-E-S-apostrophe-S, or we can say Peter Jones' house, spelt J-O-N-E-S-apostrophe. This second use, the one without the letter 's', is more common in formal writing.
The use of the apostrophe without the letter 's', to indicate possession, also occurs when we are talking about plural nouns which end with an 's', for example, two dogs, my parents. So, when we say my parents' bedroom, parents' is spelt P-A-R-E-N-T-S-apostrophe.
So, that is Gareth's answer to Iain's question. Why don't you look at the answers to some other contributors' questions?
About Gareth Rees
Gareth Rees has a BA (hons) in History and Philosophy of Science, CTEFLA, and DELTA. He has taught EFL, EAP and Business English in China, Spain and England, and he is the co-author of the Language Leader Elementary and Pre-Intermediate English language course books (Pearson Longman). He currently teaches English in the Language Centre at the University of the Arts, London.
