CDs CD’s USBs USB’s ATMs ATM’s 1960s 1960’s 90s 90’s only sofas only $199 (also!) sofa’s $199 To denote possession Apostrophes are used to show possession or ownership of something, as in the following examples. Note that the apostrophe is placed after the if the noun is plural. We can also ‘s’ use pronouns in place of the noun. The table below contains some examples. singular nouns pronoun plural nouns pronoun The writing his/her The their student’s students’ writing The references its The their paper’s papers’ references The its The knees their bee’s knees bees’ The The its their computer’s functions computers’ functions her n/a n/a Robyn’s office A point of confusion The words that cause the most confusion when using apostrophes are it’s and its. It’s – the apostrophe denotes a missing letter (i.e. short form of ‘it is’) Its – is used to show possession but has no apostrophe (e.g. Its ears are big).
CD’s CDs USB’s USBs ATM’s ATMs 1960’s 1960s 90’s 90s (also!) sofa’s only $199 sofas only $199 To denote possession Apostrophes are used to show possession or ownership of something, as in the following examples. Note that the apostrophe is placed after the ‘s’ if the noun is plural. We can also use pronouns in place of the noun. The table below contains some examples. singular nouns pronoun plural nouns pronoun The student’s writing his/her The students’ writing their The paper’s references its The papers’ references their The bee’s knees its The bees’ knees their The computer’s functions its The computers’ functions their Robyn’s office her n/a n/a A point of confusion The words that cause the most confusion when using apostrophes are it’s and its. It’s – the apostrophe denotes a missing letter (i.e. short form of ‘it is’) Its – is used to show possession but has no apostrophe (e.g. Its ears are big).
Humanities-and-SocialSciences_SurvivalGuide-1.docx