SmithWriting Blog

“The little apostrophe deserves our protection. It is indeed a threatened species!”

- John Richards, chairman of the Apostrophe Protection Society

Much like the panda, snow leopard, and polar bear, the apostrophe is considered an endangered species. It even has its own protection society.

This abused, ignored, and oft-misunderstood punctuation mark is well on its way to extinction unless we all do our share to protect it for future generations.

The first step is education.

Among other things, apostrophes are mainly used for forming possessives and indicating missing letters or numbers.

For example:

Rebecca’s love for apostrophes knows no bounds. (Rebecca possesses love)

Don’t ever doubt her love for apostrophes. (The apostrophe in “don’t” indicates the missing “o” in the phrase “Do not”)

However, it is incorrect to write the following:

Apostrophe’s are my favorite punctuation marks. (Apostrophe does not possess anything in this sentence; therefore the symbol is not needed)

The sentence should read: Apostrophes are my favorite punctuation marks.

Its a fact that apostrophes are awesome. (Here, an apostrophe is needed to indicate the missing letter “i” in the phase “It is”)

The sentence should read: It’s a fact that apostrophes are awesome.

Now that you know some of the correct ways to use these precious marks, grab your red pen and spread the word.

Together, we can save the apostrophes! (… or is it apostrophe’s?)

Filed by rebecca at 6:32 am under Grammar guide