How to Use Apostrophes Properly The Definitive Guide English Grammar Punctuation Lesson
hello everyone and welcome back to
english with lucy today after all of
your requests I’m doing a grammar video
and I wanted to talk to you about
something that even I an English teacher
struggle with sometimes it’s something I
have to use every single day it is
punctuation and I have always really
struggled with apostrophes and when and
when not to use them apostrophes follow
loads of rules and I see them misused
all of the time I know that sometimes I
might misuse them as well but I think
today we should just clarify all of our
doubts and use apostrophes properly once
and for all I really do think this video
is going to help anybody who needs to
write frequently anyone who’s going to
take an English exam like the IELTS or
the FCE or even the CAE anyone who needs
to write emails frequently even text
messages if you want to use correct
grammar throughout text messages school
essays native speakers and non-native
speakers whether they already speak
English or you’re learning English this
video is for absolutely everybody as
always I love learning about your
languages and your grammar as well so do
comment down below and tell me if you
use apostrophes in your language and if
you use them in the same way that we do
in English if you are interested in
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that being said let’s get started with
the punctuation lesson so how’s this
lesson going to be structured well first
I’m going to be talking about the
possessive case the genitive case where
apostrophes show possession or a
relationship between two things I’m then
going to show you how apostrophes are
used in verb pronoun and some noun
contractions and then finally I’ll show
you some extra miscellaneous
contractions using apostrophes as well
let’s get started
so let’s talk about the possessive case
normally it uses apostrophe s but there
are some exceptions this shows
possession a relationship between two
things normally with one thing belonging
to the other
for example the ball of the dog the
dog’s ball so how do we use them with
singular nouns well we just add
apostrophe s
for example Lucy’s car is orange or I
ate dinner at Will’s house but what
happens if those singular nouns end in s
now this is a little bit of a cause for
dispute in the English grammar world but
the most accepted form is to add
apostrophe s as well now this is
disputed and some people will argue that
we should just add the apostrophe
whatever you choose to do make it
consistent choose one of those rules and
be consistent with it so at least it
looks like you know what you’re doing so
I personally like to stick with the
apostrophe s because I think it’s the
most traditional for example the
actresses role was difficult or Jess’s
dog is called Mable now with the other
rule where they just put the apostrophe
and they don’t put the S you will still
treat it in spoken English as if you had
that s there so you will still say
Jess’s dog is called Mable and the
actresses role was difficult even though
the S is not there it’s complicated
so what about plural nouns well regular
plural nouns usually end in s and for
these two show possession you just need
to add an apostrophe to the end of them
for example my grandparents house is
cozy or my friends party was amazing now
this is why English is a little bit
difficult because if I say these two
sentences
my friends party was amazing or my
friends party was amazing
the first one is just referring to one
friend and the second one is referring
to two friends the apostrophe has
changed place but it sounds the same in
spoken English that’s why you need to
add a bit of context in the words of
Coldplay nobody said it was easy but
what about those plural nouns that don’t
end in s for example children well liked
the singular nouns we just add
apostrophe s so the children’s clothing
is to your left or the women’s party is
starting now these examples are less
complicated because the plural and
singular version of those nouns sound
different on their own but if you had a
noun like sheep you have one sheep two
sheep well it gets a bit more
complicated because as we explained in
the last example it sounds the same okay
so we’ve cleared up where to use
apostrophe and where to use apostrophe s
and the general consensus is add
apostrophe s to everything apart from
regular plural nouns that end in s and
for those we just add the apostrophe one
important thing to note is that
sometimes that second noun isn’t
necessary you don’t have to repeat
yourself for example my house is smaller
than my parents house I could just say
my house is smaller than my parents the
meaning is clear I’m not trying to say
that my house is smaller in size that my
parents are in size I’m trying to say
that my house is smaller
my parents house which is bigger the
meaning is more or less clear so we
don’t have to repeat ourselves with that
second house now what happens if one
object has more than one owner
what if Ali and I were to buy a cat
together would it be Lucy’s and Ali’s
cat or Lucy and Ali’s cat well if we are
both the owner it would be Lucy and
Ali’s cat because the last person in the
list takes the possessive form however
if they are similar items that are owned
individually say I have a cat and Ali
has a cat it would be Lucy’s and Ali’s
cats I have cats
Ali has cats Lucy’s and Ali’s cats okay
so that section on the possessive case
should now be clear if it’s still not
clear you can re-watch the section and
then go on to comment any doubts you
have in the comments below and I will
try and help but I also really encourage
you to help out each other as well now
let’s talk about apostrophes with verb
contractions I have got five of the most
common situations in which verb
contractions are used with apostrophes
so an apostrophe in a verb contraction
basically shows missing letters for
example I am I’m that apostrophe is
showing that missing a and the space it
also gives you an indication on
pronunciation example number one verbs
plus not for example do not don’t cannot
can’t could not couldn’t should not
shouldn’t the second example pronouns
and will I will I’ll she will she’ll
they will Vale the third one and this
one can be slightly more complicated
pronouns and nouns with to be
for example I am I’m you are
your will is wills so if you look at
wills on its own it could be showing the
possessive case or it could be showing a
contraction of the verb to be wills
watching television
it is wills television one of them is
will plus to be and the other one is
showing that the television is the
television of will it is wills
television one thing to note is with who
who’s with the apostrophe is who is who
plus to be who’s there who’s spelt WH o
s e is the possessive form whose bag is
this it’s very important to remember
that especially when you’re writing in
exams
it’s an incredibly common mistake
especially amongst native speakers I
have absolutely made the mistake in the
past but I’m really going to try and not
make the mistake in the future number
four is pronouns plus the verb to have I
have I’ve she has she’s so she’s could
be she is or she has you have to look at
the context note though it would not be
confused with the possessive because the
possessive would be hers the last one
number five pronouns plus wood or hat
for example I had I’d now we would use
this in situations like I’d better go I
had better go we wouldn’t say I’d a dog
when I was 12 I had a dog when I was 12
and then with would I would do that I do
that in everyday conversation the
apostrophe D can be used with nouns like
Oh Mahmoud love that mum would love that
or Sophia eat that Sophie would eat that
so those are the five most common
contractions now
just like to quickly cover three others
that are not so common but still really
important and you will definitely come
across them so the first situation is
when we talk about years but we drop a
couple of the numbers for example the
summer of 69 we know that we’re talking
about 1969 but we might just want to say
69 it’s more common to use this when
describing the 1900s the next situation
is where we drop the words of for
example two o’clock originally it was of
or in the surname Donovan it would have
likely been of Donovan originally the
last situation is to show pronunciation
in dialogue for example come on could be
changed to come on and we’d use an
apostrophe in that to give guidance on
how to pronounce it come on is different
to come on isn’t it right guys that is
it for my grammar lesson on apostrophes
I really hope you found it useful I
learnt a great deal putting it together
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