Apostrophes are used in contractions and to show ownership. But they’re being (mis)used for a lot more. Learn how to use apostrophes the right way with this quick writing tip. Quick writing tips are simple lessons for you to keep in mind as you write your web copy, sales pages, email marketing, social media, blog content, and everything else you have on your plate.
This quick writing tip addresses a HUGE pet peeve of mine: unnecessary apostrophes.
Apostrophes are being misused everywhere nowadays. It feels like I see them being used incorrectly more than I see them being used correctly.
The rule for using an apostrophe is simple: use it for a contraction and for when you’re attributing ownership. But for some reason, apostrophes are being used for more than that online, so let’s talk more about it.
Apostrophes Have Two Clear Purposes
Apostrophes are used in contractions (don’t, isn’t, you’re), and they show ownership (Chet’s backpack, the dog’s leash, my mom’s patio).
Here’s where else I’ve been seeing them: in numbers (10’s of people), in decades (the 1980’s), in the wrong “it’s” (the bug spread it’s wings), in a plural of an acronym (CD’s), and in regular plural words (knitting pattern’s). Yeah… it hurt me to type all of those because they’re wrong.
I think the best way to get through this post is to explain the correct usage, then go over each of these (mis)use cases in detail.
They Help You Read Contractions
A contraction is a shortened version of a word, like don’t for do not, they’re for they are, and shouldn’t for should not. Apostrophes help us read these properly because they show us where letters are missing. This lets us fill in the blanks.
Another contraction-like use for apostrophes is for shortened words in slang, like beggin’ or ‘cause. Again, this is to help us see that there are missing letters so we can understand the word more easily.
They Show Ownership—Except for Its
Ownership is a simple one to wrap your head around. Peter’s house means the house that belongs to Peter. And this can be plural, too, like The Palmers’/Palmers’s house.
It’s and its are tricky because both uses of the word follow the rule for using apostrophes: contractions and ownership. But, only one can use it or it would be too confusing.
In this case, the contraction use wins and the ownership use loses the apostrophe. So, you’d say: It’s unclear where I’m supposed to go, and The dog licked its bowl for crumbs.
They Aren’t for Numbers
Numbers are where I see misused apostrophes the most. When describing numbers, you can add an S to the end without an apostrophe.
10s of people flooded the sidewalk.
The 1930s were a strained decade of American history.
This math problem requires multiples of 5s and 2s.
I think this mistake is made so often because the apostrophe separates the S from the number, so it’s easier to see that it’s plural. I could see why someone might think that it’s necessary to include it. But, the numbers are much cleaner without them, and you can still understand the meaning right away.
They Aren’t for Acronyms
I see this mistake often, too, and I think it’s made for exactly the same reason as with numbers—it feels right because the apostrophe adds distance between the S and the acronym.
But with a capitalized acronym, it’s easy to see that we’re talking about a plural acronym: DVDs, EMTs, MLMs, etc.
It looks strange when you’re used to creating distance with an apostrophe, but using one when you shouldn’t is more confusing for readers because our brains try to assign one of the two correct uses. For example, if a sentence starts with The EMT’s… your brain likely goes to ownership, like The EMT’s bag… It throws you off when the rest of the sentence doesn’t follow your expectations.
You as the writer might think that it looks better, but the reader isn’t in your head. Adding an apostrophe might cause the reader to stumble over the word and force them to reread it.
They Aren’t for Plural Words
This one really blows my mind, but I keep seeing it, so I have to mention it.
I keep seeing instances of apostrophes being used in regular plural words. It shouldn’t need much explanation to say that this is incorrect. A word is made plural when you add an S at the end of it: balloons, towers, cats, wheels, etc.
But I keep seeing apostrophes in plural words, like kitchen’s, variable’s, phone’s, and secret’s. Just like in the last example, the issue with using apostrophes in this way is that the reader forms an expectation that doesn’t get fulfilled. It trips people up to see words like the ones I listed above, because their brain goes to, “the kitchen’s… what?”
A trickier misuse (that I’m a bit more forgiving of) is when making a proper noun plural.
There are other Colleen’s in my office, but I’m the only one on my team.
There are other Colleens in my office, but I’m the only one on my team.
The second sentence is the correct one, but I see people adding apostrophes to sentences similar to the first example. Again, I think this is a distance thing. Because the word ends in a lowercase letter, the fear is that the lowercase S at the end could get lumped in with the rest of the word.
I can definitely see that point of view, but the correct way to write this is to leave out the apostrophe and trust that the reader will figure it out. With proper nouns, the apostrophe usually designates ownership, so Colleen’s with the apostrophe is misleading.
Use ‘Em the Right Way
Apostrophes have two clear uses: to shorten words (like in a contraction, or like what I did in this heading) and to designate ownership. They are not meant for separating an S from a word or number to add visual distance. Now, hyphens, on the other hand, can do that for you, but that’s a tip for another time…
Now, I’m going to hit Publish before my spell checker goes mad from all the red squigglies I created in writing this post. Do you have any tricky writing tips you want to share or learn more about? Let me know!