What is an Apostrophe?

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What is an Apostrophe?
An apostrophe is a type of punctuation mark used in sentences. In the English language it is usually used as a replacement to some letter/s, as a mark for a noun’s possessive case, or as a plural marking for some items in a particular sentence.

The apostrophe is written similar to a single quotation mark but the latter is used with a different purpose. Single quotation marks are usually used in expressing numbers and measurements.

The word apostrophe has Greek roots and was said to be used in the English language starting in the 16th century after the French influence. Its original use was as a replacement for omitted letters or for those that does not represent a sound when pronouncing the word. This rule in letter/s omission is still applicable today with some revisions and changes based on grammar rules. In the 18th century, the apostrophe was accompanied by an “s” for singular nouns in its possessive form. By the 19th century, the possessive case of plural subjects is written with an apostrophe after the “s”.

There are quite a lot of rules in using apostrophe in the English language. One such rule is to use this particular mark at the exact location where a letter is removed or omitted. In contracting the phrase “do not”, the apostrophe is written between “n” and “t” to replace the “o”, as in “don’t”. In possessive cases of nouns, the basic rule is to put the apostrophe before the “s” if the noun is singular and after the “s” if the noun is plural. But one must take note that this particular rule in plural nouns does not apply to people’s names. So when referring to the Chang family in its possessive case, it should be written “the Changs”. An apostrophe should also not be used for pronouns in their possessive cases. Pronouns such as his or hers already imply possession so they do not require putting an apostrophe on them.

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