Apostrophe to show two words have been connected (contraction)
We sometimes connect two words to make one shorter word. We use an apostrophe to show that we have left out one or more letters:
do not → don’t |
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it is → it’s |
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is not → isn’t |
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you have → you’ve |
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cannot → can’t |
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will not → won’t |
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wh-word+ ’s, ’d, etc. |
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We use’sforhasandis:
She’sseen that movie already.(has)
He’smy brother.(is)
We use’dforhadandwould:
They’dnever been to Japan before.(had)
She’dlove to live in the USA.(would)
See also:
Contractions
Apostrophe +sto show possession
When we show who owns something or has a close relationship with something, we use an apostrophe +safter the name or the noun. When the noun is plural, we put the apostrophe after thes:
Is thatFrank’scamera?
There was a bigteachers’conference last week in Mexico City.(a conference for teachers)
See also:
Possession (John’s car,a friend of mine)
Apostrophe with time
We can use an apostrophe +sto show duration. When the time noun is plural, the apostrophe comes after thes:
For me, writing an essay involves at least anhour’swork.
It was just tenminutes’walk from my house to my office.(the walk from my house to my office takes just ten minutes)
When we write the time, we sometimes useo’clock:
14:00: twoo’clock
18:00: sixo’clock
See also:
Telling the time
Apostrophe: typical error
We use an apostrophe to contractit istoit’s. We don’t use an apostrophe with possessiveits:
The University is very proud ofitsgardens.
Not: …of it’s gardens.
See also:
Possession (John’s car,a friend of mine)
Possessive’s
Possessives withof
Punctuation