Build your skills: Using apostrophes at work – Part 1
Using apostrophes at work
There are two parts to this task.
Part 1
In Part 1 you can build your understanding of different ways of using apostrophes.
Part 2
In Part 2 you can try out your skills and check your answers.
In this task you will find information and activities to help you in:
•
using apostrophes when you have left something out or
shortened words
•
using apostrophes to show ownership or possession
•
using apostrophes to make your writing clearer.
Ws/L2.4
Focus on
apostrophes
Apostrophes – what’s all the fuss about?
There are few things in the English language that get people arguing as much as
apostrophes.
On one side, there are those who can be quite irritated by the misuse of apostrophes –
there’s even a group of people who go out armed with stickers and marker pens to correct
apostrophe errors they find in public!
On the other side, there are people who think we should stop using apostrophes altogether
because they don’t really affect the meaning of what you want to write.
In the workplace, it’s worth getting it right because it makes your writing look more
professional, and can help to ensure that what you write is clear and accurate.
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Literacy at Level 2
Build your skills: Using apostrophes at work – Part 1
Apostrophes – what do they do?
The two main reasons why we use apostrophes are:
1
to show that we’ve left out letters (apostrophes for omission), e.g. do not → don’t
2
to show ownership (apostrophes for possession), e.g. the company’s employees.
1
Apostrophes for omission
The rule here is fairly simple: where you have left out letters by shortening a word or by
making two words into one, the apostrophe goes in place of the missing letter or letters.
•
do not → don’t
•
have not → haven’t
•
cannot → can’t
•
we will → we’ll
•
should have → should’ve
Can you think of any other common contractions you use at work?
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Literacy at Level 2
Build your skills: Using apostrophes at work – Part 1
Activity 1
Have a look at the e-mail below and use apostrophes for omission on the highlighted
words.
(You’ll find the answers in Part 2.)
One thing to bear in mind is that using contractions can make your writing appear informal,
so avoid using them in formal writing.
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Apostrophes for possession
Apostrophes for possession (also known as possessive apostrophes) show that something
belongs to someone or something. These can be a bit more tricky and this is where people
tend to make mistakes – but once you know what you need to ask yourself before adding
an apostrophe for possession, it’s really straightforward.
Before starting, you need to be clear on some terminology:
•
singular noun – one person, object or thing, e.g. boy, woman, car, house
•
plural noun – more than one person, object or thing, e.g. boys, women, cars, houses.
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Literacy at Level 2
Build your skills: Using apostrophes at work – Part 1
With singular nouns, the apostrophe comes before the ‘s’:
•
the manager’s office
•
the company’s health and safety policy
•
Mohammed’s promotion
•
the sales assistant’s monthly targets.
There are two checks you can make to ensure that you’ve put the apostrophe
on the right word and in the right place.
1 Taking ‘the manager’s office’ as an example, can you substitute my/your/his/her/its and
the phrase still makes sense? ‘The manager’s office’ could become ‘her office’ or ‘his
office’.
2 Ask yourself ‘who does the office belong to?’ In this case, it’s ‘the manager’. Where you
finish saying the word is where you place the apostrophe.
With regular plural nouns, the apostrophe comes after the ‘s’:
•
the employees’ pay rise
•
the workers’ canteen
•
the machines’ efficiency (many machines).
Again, you can apply the same two checks to ensure that you’ve put the apostrophe on the
right word and in the right place.
1 Taking ‘the workers’ canteen’ as an example, can you substitute our/your/their and the
phrase still makes sense? ‘The workers’ canteen’ could become ‘our canteen’ or ‘their
canteen’.
2 Ask yourself ‘who does the canteen belong to?’ In this case, it’s ‘the workers’. Where
you finish saying the word is where you place the apostrophe.
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Literacy at Level 2
Build your skills: Using apostrophes at work – Part 1
One thing to look out for is where plurals don’t end in ‘s’:
•
children – the children’s teacher
•
men – the men’s toilet
•
women – the women’s clothing department.
In these cases you put the apostrophe before the ‘s’. (The checking question still works
with irregular plurals.)
Activity 2
Add possessive apostrophes to this document.
(You’ll find the answers in Part 2.)
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Literacy at Level 2
Build your skills: Using apostrophes at work – Part 1
Its or it’s?
This is something that is commonly confused, but easy to get right.
Take a look at this passage and see if you can work out why ‘its’ or ‘it’s’ has
been used.
‘It’s nearly time for the car to go in for its MOT. Its tyres need replacing and it’s
going to cost me a lot of money. The garage I use is great, though. It’s close to
home and its staff are friendly and efficient.
‘Maybe it’s time I bought a new car. It’s done a lot of miles and its engine is
starting to make strange noises!’
•
It’s is used to shorten ‘it is’ or ‘it has’.
•
Its is used to show possession to avoid repeating the noun, e.g. ‘It’s nearly time for the
car to go in for the car’s MOT.’
The simple rule is: the word ‘it’s’ stands for ‘it is’ or ‘it has’. If the word doesn’t stand for ‘it
is’ or ‘it has’, then what you need is ‘its’.
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Literacy at Level 2
Build your skills: Using apostrophes at work – Part 1
A word of warning!
Make sure you don’t start to stick apostrophes everywhere you see a word ending in ‘s’.
Follow and practise the rules and you’ll avoid ending up with something like this:
If you want more practice on apostrophes, visit:
•
BBC Skillswise apostrophes pages:
www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/words/grammar/punctuation/apostrophes
•
Apostrophes information sheet and exercises:
www.skillsworkshop.org/sentence/l1l2apostropheinfo.pdf
•
Home for Abused Apostrophes: www.suepalmer.co.uk/apostrophes.php
Print out Part 2 to try out your skills.
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Literacy at Level 2