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The apostrophe may be the most
misunderstood punctuation mark
in English. There are even
websites dedicated to cataloging
its misuse. Most punctuation
marks fall between words to
separate ideas or grammatical
clauses, but the apostrophe is
used within words and to combine
multiple words which befuddles
even native speakers.
This small mark has two primary
uses: to signify either possession
or omitted letters. Rather than say
“the friend of Sam,” one can say
“Pam’s friend” by adding a ‘s to
the possessor (in this case, Pam).
As for the second use, some
common English words can be
combined into a contraction, such
as isn’t, don’t, and you’re. We
often collide sounds and letters
when speaking for the sake of
convenience, and the apostrophe
helps written language reflect its
spoken equivalent. The word
apostrophe comes from the Greek
word apóstrophos which refers to
a mark used in Greek to signify an
omitted letter. It literally means a
“mark of turning away.”
The apostrophe causes so much
strife in part because it’s the
culprit in two of the most
commonly confused pairs in
English: you’re/your and it’s/its.
Possessive pronouns (like your
and its) never take apostrophes,
but their soundalike friends are
contractions that require
apostrophes. We all struggle with
these when writing and
proofreading our work, but here’s
a trick: try replacing the ‘re or ‘s
with are or is. If the syntax works,
then you need the apostrophe; if
not, it’s the possessive pronoun.
For example, “It’s Sunday” can be
written “It is Sunday,” while “The
school locked its doors” cannot be
written “The school locked it is
doors.” Likewise, “You’re late” can
be written “You are late,” while “I
saw your note” cannot be written
“I saw you are note.”
What about when you see an
apostrophe at the end of the
word? If there are multiple
possessors, as in the teachers’
dog (which refers to a dog
belonging to multiple teachers),
the apostrophe is placed outside
of the s. But in English there’s
always an exception. For plural
nouns that do not end in s, add ‘s,
e.g. women’s rights. Also, the
apostrophe is added for the
possessive of a noun that is plural
in form but singular in meaning,
e.g. mathematics’ formulas.
Lastly, for joint possession, the ‘s
is added to the word nearest the
object of possession, e.g. Francis
and Kucera’s book.
The apostrophe has a number of
other lesser-known uses. It can
replace omitted numbers (e.g. the
class of ’72, the ’20s, etc.) and
letters e.g. gone fishin’. It can also
be used to indicate plural letters,
as in p’s and q’s, two A’s and four
B’s, etc.
Some pundits want to do away
with the apostrophe altogether.
Do you think that’s a good idea?

Source
http://www.newsmen.ml

http://www.davidking.com.ng

Am in to learn !!!

Ok na