How to use Apostrophes?

Synonyms and Antonyms Index | Previous Page

How to use Apostrophes? :



The aim of punctuation is to make the meaning of written words as clear and as immediately understandable as possible. Read the following and see whether you can get the sense.

What do you mean I am a detective

The meaning of these words depends on the punctuation.

(A) What! Do you mean I am a detective?
(b) What do you mean? I am a detective.

Compare the following.

(a) He doesn’t walk normally. (= He walks in a strange way.)

(b) He doesn’t walk, normally. (= Usually he doesn’t walk.)

Here is another example. The words in each of the following sentences are the same. But the meaning differs depending on the punctuation.

(a) Gopal said, “Suresh met with an accident.”
(b) “Gopal”, said Suresh, “met with an accident.”

The commonly used punctuation marks are…

1. Full Stop (.)
2. Question Mark (?)
3. Exclamation Mark (!)
4. Comma (,)
5. Colon (:)
6. Semicolon (;)
7. Quotation Marks Or Inverted Commas (‘‘ Or “ ”)
8. Apostrophe (’)

Remember that the apostrophe (') is used.

1. In the possessive forms of nouns :

the boy's pen (apostrophe + 5 with singular nouns)
boys’ school (apostrophe after the 5 with plural nouns)

2. In short forms :

I’ll (I will) go home.
We’ve (= We have) had a nice time.

How to use Apostrophes?

School Essays

Moral Stories

Akbar and Birbal Stories

How to use Apostrophes? To HOME PAGE