Apostrophe

Use of Apostrophe

Apostrophe means something more is remaining out of this sign ( ‘ ). That means this sign is called apostrophe. It is used with the letter s. It can either be used before or after s. It is mainly used to contract the two words together.  Like --- He’s a good boy. Here the contracted words are he + is that means “he is a good boy.”

Some important contractions are given here that are very important for the learners in their regular activities. To clarify more deeply I am giving here in detail.

do not   = don’t

does not  = doesn’t

am not    = ain’t or aren’t

is not      = isn’t

are not   = aren’t

have not  = haven’t

has not    = hasn’t

had not  = hadn’t

was not   = wasn’t

were not = weren’t

shall not  = shan’t

will not   = won’t

must not  = mustn’t

ought not   = oughtn’t

cannot   = can’t

could not   = couldn’t

should not = shouldn’t

would not  = wouldn’t

might not  = mightn’t

may not = mayn’t

Some more with pronouns are given below:

I am = I’m

He is = he’s

You are = you’re

We are = we’re

They are = they’re

She is = she’s

I have = I’ve

We have = we’ve

They have = they’ve

He has = He’s

We were = we’re

They were = they’re

I / she/ he was = I/she/he’s

I/ he/she/you/they had or would = I’d, he’d, she’d, you’d, they’d

I shall = I’ll

I/she/he/you/they will = I’ll, she’ll, he’ll, you’ll, they’ll

Some uses of these contraction forms are given here:

I am a student of this college.

I’m a student of this college.

He is my friend since my school life.

He’s my friend since my school life.

They are my best friends.

They’re my best friends.

He has a lot of money but he does not give me.

He’s a lot of money but he doesn’t give me.

I have no money in my pocket.

I haven’t money in my pocket.

I could not come yesterday because of my illness.

I couldn’t come yesterday because of my illness.

You will come to meet me to-night.

You’ll come to meet me tonight.

She must not ignore you in your distress.

She mustn’t ignore you in your distress.

The man would not do any harm to anyone.

The man wouldn’t do any harm to anyone.

We should not ignore the needy people.

We shouldn’t ignore the needy people.

Apostrophe is used when it indicates that someone owns something that means belongs to.

The property of my father

=My father’s property

The book of that boy

=That boy’s book

The bag of the girl

=The girl’s bag

The cap of John

= John’s cap

When it is in plural form apostrophe ( ‘ ) is used after s

The bags of those boys

=Those boys’ bags

The seats of the girls

=The girls’ seats

The school of the girls

= The girls’ school

Sometimes in spite of being plural apostrophe ( ‘ )  is used before s

The college of the women

=The women’s college

The college of the men

= The men’s college

The common mistake that we often do regularly the sentences are like these:

It is five o’clock.

in short we write  It’s five o’clock. (right)  But we mostly don’t use apostrophe here. Instead we use = Its five o’clock (wrong).

Mistakenly we write =  it’s color is red (wrong.) 

But it will be = its color is red. (right)

I have a pen but it is not writing well.

I’ve a pen but its not writing well. (wrong)

I’ve a pen but it’s not writing well.  (right)

It is raining now.

It’s raining now. (right)

Its raining now.  (wrong)

We have to remember that when something or someone belongs to something to refer to it, apostrophe is omitted

*****We have a cat and its color is white. Not like this we have a cat and it’s color is white it is wrong.