What is a Possessive Apostrophe?

Possessive apostrophes indicate ownership. Typically, this will involve adding an apostrophe plus the letter ‘s’ after a noun or someone’s name:

Mandy's hair was tangled.

The table’s leg is wobbly.

Here, for example, the apostrophes show us that the hair belongs to Mandy and that the leg belongs to the table.

Possessive Apostrophes After ‘S’

The main variation on the rule above comes when a word already ends in the letter ‘s’. In this case, you can either:

1. Add an apostrophe plus another ‘s’ (e.g. Denis’s tennis racquet)

2. Or just use the apostrophe by itself (e.g. Denis’ tennis racquet)

Both of these are accepted in modern English. However, if you’re writing an essay or for a specific publication, you may want to check your style guide for advice on which approach to use.

Plurals and Possessive Apostrophes

Plurals that end in ‘s’ sometimes cause confusion when using a possessive apostrophe. The key here is that possessive apostrophes should always go after the final ‘s’ in a plural. For instance, imagine if we wanted to talk about two dogs with empty food bowls:

The dogs’ bowls are empty. ✓

The dog’s bowls are empty. ✗

The first sentence here suggests multiple dogs and multiple bowls. But the second implies one dog with more than one bowl. And while this not ungrammatical, it is still an error as it does not say what it is meant to say.

Spaces in your writing need to be uniform. One space should be used between words. Using 2 or more spaces between words impacts the flow of reading the sentence. For example:

This sentence uses variable spacing which impacts on the way we read it.

Also, only one space should follow periods, commas, semicolons, colons, exclamation points, question marks, and quotation marks.

A comma marks a slight break between different parts of a sentence. Used properly, commas make the meaning of sentences clear by grouping and separating words, phrases, and clauses. It is recommended that the comma be used cautiously and wisely. It is used to connect new ideas to old ones, and to tell the reader when to pause a moment in their thinking (or in their speaking, if they’re reading out loud). In long sentences, it’s also used to separate clauses, so the reader understands which modifiers apply to which words, etc.

Use commas to separate items (words, phrases or numbers) in a series.

• I need to buy flour, eggs and butter for my cakes while shopping today.

Use a comma to set off introductory words, mild interjections or names at the beginning of a sentence.

• Well, that was an interesting movie!

• “Tom, would you please put the butter in the fridge?”

• Yes, there are fourteen days in a fortnight.

• Mr President, do you plan to change the carbon voting?

Use a comma before and after interruptions in a sentence.

• The Easter Show, I think, is the best of all the craft exhibitions.

• Mary, the teacher, worked at least ten hours a day.

• Will you, Angela, be able to finish on time?

• Her grandmother, Joan Elizabeth, was 102 years old.

• Mahatma Ghandi, the greatest exponent for peace, was a classic pacifist.

Use an ‘Oxford comma’ (or serial comma) to clarify list items.

• The pansies are black and white, red and yellow, and purple and black. (More than one in each category)

• My favourite sandwiches are chicken, bacon, and ham and cheese. (Ham and cheese is a single unit.)

Use commas to separate the following connectives from the rest of the sentence.

• In fact, Generally, Actually, Most importantly,

• Also, Furthermore, In addition, Additionally,

• Firstly, Secondly Thirdly, Finally etc.

• Meanwhile, During, While,

• Consequently, As a result, Anyway,

• First of all, I just want to say, After all,

• However, Although, On the other hand, In other words.

When do you need to use a hyphen for compound words?

General Principle 1

If a compound adjective can be misread, use a hyphen.

General Principle 2

In a temporary compound that is used as an adjective before a noun, use a hyphen if the term can be misread or if the term expresses a single thought (i.e., all words together modify the noun).

For example:

• "the adolescents resided in two parent homes" means that two homes served as residences, whereas if the adolescents resided in "two-parent homes," they each would live in a household headed by two parents.

A properly placed hyphen helps the reader understand the intended meaning.

Also use hyphens for

Compounds in which the base word is

• capitalized: pro-Freudian

• a number: post-1970

• an abbreviation: pre-UCS trial

• more than one word: non-achievement-oriented students

All "self-" compounds whether they are adjectives or nouns

• self-report

• self-esteem

• the test was self-paced

Words that could be misunderstood

• re-pair [pair again]

• re-form [form again]

• un-ionized

Words in which the prefix ends and the base word begins with the same vowel

• meta-analysis

• anti-intellectual

• co-occur

General Principle 3

Most compound adjective rules are applicable only when the compound adjective precedes the term it modifies. If a compound adjective follows the term, do not use a hyphen, because relationships are sufficiently clear without one.

• client-centred counselling but the counselling was client centred

• t-test results but results from t tests

• same-sex children but children of the same sex

General Principle 4

Write most words formed with prefixes and suffixes as one word.

Prefixes

• aftereffect

• extracurricular

• multiphase

• socioeconomic

Suffixes

• agoraphobia

• wavelike

• cardiogram

General Principle 5

When two or more compound modifiers have a common base, this base is sometimes omitted in all except the last modifier, but the hyphens are retained.

• Long- and short-term memory

• 2-, 3-, and 10-min trials

It is important to know which words to capitalise in your writing. Here's a list of the types of words that we need to capitalise in English.

1. Use a capital letter for the personal pronoun 'I':

• What can I say?

2. Use a capital letter to begin a sentence or to begin speech:

• The man arrived. He sat down.

• Suddenly Mary asked, "What's for dinner?"

3. Use capital letters for many abbreviations and acronyms:

• G.M.T. or GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)

• N.A.T.O. or NATO or Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organization)

4. Use a capital letter for days of the week, months of the year, holidays:

• Thursday, Friday

• March, April

• Easter

• Anzac Day

5. Use a capital letter for countries, languages & nationalities, religions:

• Thailand, Canada

• Cantonese, English

• Christianity, Islam

6. Use a capital letter for people's names and titles:

• William, Theo, Robert Redford

• Professor Mason, Dr Jones

• Captain Kirk, Queen Elizabeth II

7. Use a capital letter for trade-marks and names of companies and other organisations:

• Coca-Cola, Walmart

• Google, Hyundai

• the United Nations, the Red Cross

8. Use a capital letter for places and monuments:

• Sydney, Bangkok, Circular Quay

• the Statue of Liberty, Westminster Abbey

• Buckingham Palace, the White House

• Oxford Street, Madison Square

• Uranus, Mars, Sirius

• South America, the Middle East, the South Pole

9. Use a capital letter for names of vehicles like ships, trains and spacecraft:

• the Titanic

• the Orient Express, the Ghan

• Challenger 2, the Enterprise

10. Use a capital letter for titles of books, poems, songs, plays, films etc:

• War And Peace

• Moon River

• Hamilton

• Frozen, Gone With The Wind

11. Use capital letters (sometimes!) for headings, titles of articles, books etc, and newspaper headlines:

• HOW TO MAKE A MILLION

• Chapter 2: THE DEMISE OF CLINTON

• LIFE FOUND ON MARS!

• MAN BITES DOG

There are three main types of punctuation marks that are used at the end of sentences. Here’s a brief description of each one –

The Full Stop

This is the first punctuation mark that most people learn – the full stop (or, if you’re American, ‘period’) at the end of a sentence.

The boy patted the dog.

It’s also used after (and sometimes in) many abbreviations:

Mrs. Jones lived next door. Many trees, e.g. elm trees, are deciduous.

Note that British English normally omits the full stop after Mr, Mrs and Ms.

The Question Mark

If a sentence poses a direct question, it should end with a question mark.

May I borrow your car? What is your favourite colour? Should I turn left here?

The Exclamation Mark

The exclamation mark (or 'exclamation point' in American English) is used to add emphasis or to show that words are being spoken in excitement, surprise, or alarm.

I just heard your news – that’s fantastic!

“Oh no!” She stared at him in disbelief.

Exclamation marks are not normally appropriate in formal writing, such as academic essays or business reports. You should only use one exclamation mark unless you’re writing something very informal (such as a text message to a friend).