Blah Blah Blah: A Guide to Writing

----Disaster #3: So Possesive

Disaster #3: So Possesive

The third disaster in grammar that we will be discussing is the use of the apostrophe and the letter "S." I have been taught this skill since the kindergarten days, but I did not really master it until I reached fifth grade. It is not that people do not know what the apostrophe "S" is. It is just that they do not know how to properly use it, when to use it, how to use it, or why they're using it in the first place. I am about to make it a whole lot less difficult for you.

What's the confusion?

There are three ways to use the apostrophe "S," but those three ways often get mixed up. People often go for the better looking way rather than the grammatically correct way. Take a look at these three sentences:

Jennifers trousers didn't feel all that hot anymore.

The dogs's howling was impressive in the nighttime.

Marcus' red shirt was very wrinkled.

The above three sentences portray the three ways the apostrophe "S" is used incorrectly. Before we try to fix them, let us go through the lesson.

How to Be Possesive

The first way an apostrophe "S" is misused is when it is not used at all. The 's is used to show possesion, but many people on this website seem to skip that. Look at the first sentence and ask yourself: what is being owned? The trousers! Who is owning them? Is her name Jennifers? No, her name is Jennifer. Jennifer owns the trousers, and the correct way to say it would be:

Jennifer's trousers.

Just saying Jennifers would imply that there is more than one Jennifer. There isn't. The same would go for other nouns. If the nouns are not plural, but you want to show them owning something, use the 's. For example, if you want to say that the chicken owns the collection of stamps, you would say:

The chicken's collection of stamps.

The second way an apostrophe "S" is misused is when the word ends with an "S" itself (for example, dogs or Marcus). However, there are two very specific ways to fix the error, and you have to use the correct form.

The first word is "dogs." What are they possesing? The howling. How do we write it? Well, take a look at "dogs." The word is plural, meaning there is more than one dog in the group. If there was only to be one dog, we would do what we did with Jennifer and the chicken, but since there are many dogs, we won't. Instead, the proper way to rewrite the second incorrect sentence would be:

The dogs' howling was impressive in the nighttime. 

The same would go for multiple chickens.

The chickens' collection of stamps.

What is the difference between dog's and dogs'? Or chicken's and chickens'? One is singular, meaning there is only one and needs the "S," and the other is plural, meaning it already has the "S."

But what about words like "family?" There is definitely more than one person in a family!

Well, yeah, but how many families are there? One, so you would use:

The family's castle.

If there was more than one family:

The families' castles.

The other way the apostrophe "S" is misused is when you have a name or a word that naturally ends in "S." For example, take the name Marcus. It ends in "S," but ask yourself, how many people named Marcus are there? Only one, so just follow the rules above. 

Jennifer's trousers didn't feel all that hot anymore.

The dogs' howling was impressive in the nighttime.

Marcus's red shirt was very wrinkled.

Have any questions or would like to add on with your own advice? Comment below!