What you need to know

An apostrophe ( ' ) has only two jobs. Job one: it shows where letters have been left out when two words are squashed together, as in don't (do not). Job two: it shows that something belongs to someone, as in Sam's bike. If an apostrophe is not doing one of those two jobs, it should not be there.

Job 1: Contractions (missing letters). A contraction is a shortened form of two words. The apostrophe goes exactly where the missing letters were — not where the words join.

Job 2: Possession (belonging)

To show that something belongs to one owner, add 's to the owner: the dog's bowl (one dog), Liam's hat, the teacher's desk. This works even when the owner's name ends in s: James's book.

If the owner is plural and already ends in s, just add an apostrophe after the s: the dogs' bowls (several dogs), the students' work. If the plural does not end in s, add 's as usual: the children's playground, the men's room.

Check yourself

1. Write the contraction for 'we are'.
2. Add the apostrophe: 'Thats my sisters bike.' (one sister)
3. Add the apostrophe: 'The three boys jackets are wet.'
4. Choose its or it's: 'The cat licked ___ paws.'
5. Choose its or it's: '___ raining again.'
6. Which sentence is correct? (a) 'The shop sells banana's.' (b) 'The shop sells bananas.'

Answers: 1. we're 2. That's my sister's bike. 3. The three boys' jackets are wet. 4. its 5. It's 6. (b)