{ "id": "ep413kq1mk", "slug": "apostrophe", "title": "Apostrophe", "updated": "2026-10-25", "topic_path": [ { "id": "society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society" }, { "id": "society.language", "label": "Languages and linguistics", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.language" }, { "id": "society.language.writing", "label": "Writing and notation systems", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.language.writing" }, { "id": "society.language.writing.writing.punctuation", "label": "Punctuation and orthographic marks", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/society.language.writing.writing.punctuation" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.weu.t1000.society.language.writing", "label": "Western Europe · 1000 to 1799: Writing and notation systems", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1000.society.language.writing", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1000", "label": "Western Europe · 1000 to 1799", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1000" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1000.society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1000.society" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1000.society.language", "label": "Languages and linguistics", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1000.society.language" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1000.society.language.writing", "label": "Writing and notation systems", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1000.society.language.writing" } ] }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1800.society.language", "label": "Western Europe · 1800 to 1945: Languages and linguistics", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1800.society.language", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1800", "label": "Western Europe · 1800 to 1945", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1800" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1800.society", "label": "Society and history", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1800.society" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1800.society.language", "label": "Languages and linguistics", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1800.society.language" } ] } ], "excerpt": "The apostrophe is a punctuation mark used in English chiefly to show possession, as in the cat's meow, and to mark omitted letters in contractions, as in don't.", "snippet": "The apostrophe is a punctuation mark used in English chiefly to show possession, as in the cat's meow, and to mark omitted letters in contractions, as in don't.", "node": "society.language.writing.writing.punctuation", "markdown": "# Apostrophe\n\nThe apostrophe ( ' ) is a punctuation mark used in English chiefly to show possession, as in *the cat's meow*, and to mark omitted letters in contractions, as in *don't* for *do not*[1](https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/apostrophes). It is one of the most frequently misused marks in written English, and its rules vary somewhat among style guides[4](https://arxiv.org/abs/1002.0479).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Main functions | Shows possession (possessives, sometimes called genitives) and marks omitted letters in contractions[1](https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/apostrophes) |\n| Etymology | From Greek *apostrophos*, \"turning away\", via Late Latin *apostrophus* and French *apostrophe*; the punctuation sense is recorded from the 1580s[3](https://www.etymonline.com/word/apostrophe) |\n| Entry into English | Introduced by the mid sixteenth century as a printer's mark, \"for the eye rather than for the ear\"[2](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/english-language-and-linguistics/article/night-before-begd-ye-queenss-pardon-and-his-brothers-the-apostrophe-in-the-history-of-english/3AFFF461EAC85F085E5F49BAC68D32A4) |\n| Standardisation | Its use was standardized during the 19th century[4](https://arxiv.org/abs/1002.0479) |\n| Unicode characters | U+2019 RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK is preferred in set text; U+0027 APOSTROPHE is the keyboard character; U+02BC MODIFIER LETTER APOSTROPHE marks a letter, such as a glottal stop[5](https://unicode.org/versions/Unicode18.0.0/core-spec/chapter-6/) |\n| Common error | Adding an apostrophe to make a plural (\"greengrocers' apostrophes\"), as in *CD's are obsolete*[4](https://arxiv.org/abs/1002.0479) • [6](https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/the-university/brand/style-guide/punctuation) |\n\n## Possession\n\nWhen the first of two consecutive nouns carries an apostrophe, the mark signals a relationship between the nouns. The relationship varies, but all such uses are known collectively as possessives and sometimes as genitives[1](https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/apostrophes).\n\nThe placement follows the type of noun doing the possessing[1](https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/apostrophes):\n\n- **Singular nouns** take an apostrophe and *s*: *the committee's report*, *the bus's passengers*.\n- **Plural nouns ending in s** take an apostrophe only: *both committees' reports*, *the Joneses' submission*.\n- **Plural nouns not ending in s** take an apostrophe and *s*: *our children's education*, *the sheep's wool*.\n- **Proper names ending in s** take an apostrophe and another *s* in Australian government style, even when the final *s* is not pronounced: *Burns's report*, *James's profession*, *Jesus's disciples*[1](https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/apostrophes).\n- **Joint possession** takes one apostrophe after the last noun only (*Smith and Miller's report*), while **individual possession** takes one after each noun (*Smith's and Miller's offices*)[1](https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/apostrophes).\n- **Compound nouns** place the apostrophe after the whole compound: *the attorney-general's speeches*, *my mother-in-law's dog*[1](https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/apostrophes) • [6](https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/the-university/brand/style-guide/punctuation).\n\nStyle guides differ on singular names ending in *s*. MLA style adds *'s* (*Athens's history*, *Alexandre Dumas's novels*) while noting that some styles allow only the apostrophe (*Athens' history*)[7](https://style.mla.org/apostrophes-three-ways/). Oxford's guide suggests rewording the sentence if adding *'s* would make a name ending in *s* or *z* hard to pronounce[6](https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/the-university/brand/style-guide/punctuation).\n\nApostrophes also mark time expressions that can be paraphrased with *of*: *a week's holiday*, *three months' notice*[6](https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/the-university/brand/style-guide/punctuation). When a noun merely describes another noun rather than possessing it, as in *workers compensation* or *visitors book*, no apostrophe is used[1](https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/apostrophes).\n\n## Contractions\n\nIn a contraction, two words are joined into one shorter word and the apostrophe stands where letters have been left out: *do not* becomes *don't*, *it is* becomes *it's*, *cannot* becomes *can't*, and *will not* becomes *won't*[8](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/apostrophe). The apostrophe goes in the position the omitted letters would have occupied, not where the space between the original words fell[6](https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/the-university/brand/style-guide/punctuation).\n\nSome contractions are ambiguous in writing. *'s* can stand for *is* or *has* (*She's seen that movie already*; *He's my brother*), and *'d* can stand for *had* or *would*[8](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/apostrophe). The possessive pronoun *its* takes no apostrophe; *it's* is a contraction of *it is* or *it has*[8](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/apostrophe) • [6](https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/the-university/brand/style-guide/punctuation) • [10](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/it-s-or-its).\n\n## Plurals and exceptions\n\nStyle guides generally prohibit the apostrophe for plurals of nouns, abbreviations, numbers, and words not usually used as nouns: *CVs*, *the 1990s*, *two Johns*, *dos and don'ts*[6](https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/the-university/brand/style-guide/punctuation). The best-known exception is the plural of lowercase letters, where the apostrophe aids reading: *Mind your p's and q's*, *Accommodation has two c's and two m's*[7](https://style.mla.org/apostrophes-three-ways/). MLA style still omits it for grades and for abbreviations containing capital letters (*She got three As*; *people with MAs and PhDs*)[7](https://style.mla.org/apostrophes-three-ways/).\n\nMisplaced apostrophes in plurals, especially on shop signs, are common enough to have a name, greengrocers' apostrophes, humorously misspelled as \"greengrocers apostrophe's\"[4](https://arxiv.org/abs/1002.0479).\n\n## History\n\nThe word entered English in two senses. The rhetorical sense, \"a turning aside of an orator in the course of a speech to address briefly some individual\", is recorded from the 1530s; the punctuation sense, \"mark indicating an omitted letter\", from the 1580s. Both derive from French *apostrophe*, from [Late Latin](https://www.edgepedia.org/late-latin) *apostrophus*, from Greek *apostrophos* (prosoidia), \"(the accent of) turning away\", from *apostrephein*, \"avert, turn away\"[3](https://www.etymonline.com/word/apostrophe).\n\nThe mark itself was introduced into the English orthographic system by the mid sixteenth century as a printer's mark designed \"for the eye rather than for the ear\". Although some early sources derived it from the virgule, it is more plausibly a symbol of Greek and Latin provenance that English most likely borrowed from French and Italian, where it had wide circulation[2](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/english-language-and-linguistics/article/night-before-begd-ye-queenss-pardon-and-his-brothers-the-apostrophe-in-the-history-of-english/3AFFF461EAC85F085E5F49BAC68D32A4). Early English documents used it from the second half of the sixteenth century, first to mark elision, as in *th'onely* for *the only* and *o'man* for *woman*, with no consistency in whether the mark stood before or after the point of elision[2](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/english-language-and-linguistics/article/night-before-begd-ye-queenss-pardon-and-his-brothers-the-apostrophe-in-the-history-of-english/3AFFF461EAC85F085E5F49BAC68D32A4).\n\nEarly uses were broader than today's. Besides the Saxon genitive (*the woman's book*), verbal contractions (*you'll*, *you're*), and formulaic expressions (*o'clock*), early writers used the apostrophe for other cases of elision and for abbreviated words[2](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/english-language-and-linguistics/article/night-before-begd-ye-queenss-pardon-and-his-brothers-the-apostrophe-in-the-history-of-english/3AFFF461EAC85F085E5F49BAC68D32A4). In English, the mark often represented the loss of the *-e-* in the *-es* possessive ending, and by the 18th century it had been extended to all possessives, whether or not they had ever had an *-e-*[3](https://www.etymonline.com/word/apostrophe). Its use was standardized during the 19th century, yet the rules still trouble many writers, including literate speakers of English[4](https://arxiv.org/abs/1002.0479).\n\n## Typography and computing\n\nIn Unicode, three distinct characters serve apostrophe-like roles. U+0027 APOSTROPHE, the straight vertical mark on most keyboards, is heavily overloaded: in ASCII it can represent several punctuation marks or a modifier letter. When text is set, U+2019 RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK is preferred as the apostrophe, and it is identical in shape to a closing single quotation mark. Where the apostrophe functions as a letter, for example in transliterations marking a glottal stop, U+02BC MODIFIER LETTER APOSTROPHE is preferred[5](https://unicode.org/versions/Unicode18.0.0/core-spec/chapter-6/).\n\nWord processors commonly convert the typed U+0027 into a contextually chosen curly glyph, and this \"smart quotes\" feature cannot always tell an apostrophe from an opening single quotation mark. At the start of a word, as in *'70s* or *'til*, applications tend to supply an opening quote mark where a closing-shaped apostrophe is correct[9](https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Punctuation/faq0035.html). In almost all typefaces the apostrophe should look like a raised, non-inverted comma in the same typeface[9](https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Punctuation/faq0035.html).\n\n## References\n\n1. [Apostrophes, Australian Government Style Manual](https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/apostrophes)\n2. [\"The night before beg'd ye queens's pardon and his brother's\": the apostrophe in the history of English, English Language & Linguistics (Cambridge Core)](https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/english-language-and-linguistics/article/night-before-begd-ye-queenss-pardon-and-his-brothers-the-apostrophe-in-the-history-of-english/3AFFF461EAC85F085E5F49BAC68D32A4)\n3. [Apostrophe, Etymology, Origin & Meaning, Online Etymology Dictionary](https://www.etymonline.com/word/apostrophe)\n4. [\"Mind your p's and q's\": or the peregrinations of an apostrophe in 17th Century English, arXiv](https://arxiv.org/abs/1002.0479)\n5. [Chapter 6, The Unicode Standard, Version 18.0.0](https://unicode.org/versions/Unicode18.0.0/core-spec/chapter-6/)\n6. [Punctuation, University of Oxford Style Guide](https://www.ox.ac.uk/about/the-university/brand/style-guide/punctuation)\n7. [Apostrophes: One Mark, Three Ways, MLA Style Center](https://style.mla.org/apostrophes-three-ways/)\n8. [Apostrophe ('), Cambridge Dictionary](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/apostrophe)\n9. [Punctuation FAQ, The Chicago Manual of Style Online](https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Punctuation/faq0035.html)\n10. [It’s or its ?](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/it-s-or-its)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Languages and linguistics › Writing and notation systems › Punctuation and orthographic marks*\n\n*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/apostrophe", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/apostrophe.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Apostrophe\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/apostrophe. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Apostrophe](https://www.edgepedia.org/apostrophe)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/apostrophe](https://www.edgepedia.org/apostrophe). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Apostrophe\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/apostrophe. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "The apostrophe is a punctuation mark used in English chiefly to show possession, as in the cat's meow, and to mark omitted letters in contractions, as in don't." }