Monday, July 19, 2010

Your Quarterly Apostrophe Reminder

All right, friends... it's time for your quarterly apostrophe reminder!! We do NOT need an apostrophe half the time we think we do. Apostrophes either mean something belongs to someone (John's car) or that a letter is missing (do not-> don't)
Tips:

-- To make something plural, just add an s (cat -> cats, NOT cat's). Even for names (Szrama -> Szramas, NOT Szrama's). If the word has an 's' at the end already, add "es" (plus -> many pluses NOT plus's).

-- To show possession, add an 's. (Eowyn's car). To show plural possession, add BOTH (the Szramas' car). If the word ends in 's, just add an apostrophe (in Jesus' name)
-- To abbreviate "it is" or "it has," use an apostrophe Ex: The cat is sitting-> It's sitting. The dog has got a bone-> It's got a bone.

**We do NOT need an apostrophe for the word "its" which means "belonging to." (Ex. The dog wagged its tail. NOT The dog wagged it's tail.) If you're (short for "you are," NOT the same as "your," hehe) wondering whether to put "it's" or "its," try substituting "it is" in its place. If it makes sense, you need "it's." If it doesn't, you need "its."

Sorry, friends ...our church bulletin is just driving me crazy in this area. :)

2 comments:

Jeannette said...

Yay! Another warrior in the fight against misused apostrophes! I just blogged about this last week, and we need all the help we can get. Keep spreading the word! ; )

Jacqui O. said...

Your right, its so frustrating when people (like those who are not Szrama's or Okanes's) misu'se or dont use apostrophe's!