The school’s team competed with other schools.Īll the schools’ sports teams competed with each other.So, here are some examples of singular possessives alongside plural possessives, so that you can see the difference: All of the different tests’ questions were difficult.So, to make the possessive form of a plural noun, the apostrophe goes AFTER the “s” ( Noun + s + ’), and you don’t need to add another “s.” Here are some examples: Plural nouns already end in “s” or “es”, so the English language tells us that adding an apostrophe and another “s” is a little bit strange. The school’s gym was filled with people for the basketball game.Jane’s mom told her to do her homework.To make the possessive form of a singular noun, we use an apostrophe BEFORE the “s” ( Noun + ’ + s), followed by the thing the noun possesses. We form the possessive by adding an apostrophe and “s” to the end of a noun BUT, their positions are different for singular and plural nouns. The possessive means that you are showing that a noun “possesses” something, in other words, that something belongs to the noun. The other way we use apostrophes is for the possessive form of nouns. Like with pronouns, verb contractions can sometimes vary (like with “will”), but most of the time you add “ n’t” to the verb in place of “ not.” Basically, in most cases, you just replace the “o” from “not” with an apostrophe! Here’s another chart, this one with of common verbs and their contractions: Regular Verb When speaking, we often use verb contractions, because they are informal and just quicker to say! Note: “would” and “had” share the same contraction form! PronounĪpostrophes also help us to form contractions for the negative version of certain verbs ( Verb + not). This chart will help you understand how to form personal pronoun contractions. Sometimes we combine personal pronouns with the verb “to be,” “will,” “have,” “would,” and “had.” The way we form these contractions can vary a bit from pronoun to pronoun. for the negative form of certain verbs (verb + not)įorming a contraction always involves using an apostrophe, followed by one or two letters that work as an abbreviation for the words being combined.for personal pronouns (like I, you, etc…).Contractions shorten word combinations and make our writing and speaking less formal. ContractionsĪ contraction is the combination of two words using an apostrophe. In fact, for these types of words, apostrophes are just as important as the letters themselves-without apostrophes, the words simply wouldn’t exist! a. So, an apostrophe has two jobs: to shorten words and make them less formal, or to show when something belongs to someone or something. ![]() The students ’uniforms are white.→ Possessive (the uniforms belong to the students)Īpostrophes are absolutely essential for both forming contractions and creating possessives. Jane ’s homework is not finished.→ Possessive (the homework belongs to Jane) I can ’t go to the mall tonight.→ Contraction (can+not) Here are some examples of how we use them: ![]() ![]() This article will teach you how to use them properly, and how to avoid some really common mistakes.Īs mentioned, apostrophes are for contractions and possessives. Truth be told, apostrophes cause a lot of problems for writers-they are often misused, misplaced, and misunderstood! An apostrophe (’) is a type of punctuation used for two purposes: to create contractions, and to create the possessive form of a noun.
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