How To Use Apostrophes Correctly

Hey guys welcome to Eat Sleep Dream English, my name is Tom. Now I've got a test for you

guys. My flat mate and I bought the same shoes. I want you to tell me which shoe is mine.

Is it the left one or the right one? Alright, did you guess? Yes, it was the right shoe

but how did you know that? I'm sure you knew that because of the apostrophe that I added

to the shoe. Now apostrophes are really important. Maybe you are a student and you need to write

in English for your exams or for essays. Maybe at work you need to do presentations or you

need to write emails in English. Either way they are super important for you to understand

and to know how to use. So today we are going to look at the how, the when and the why of

apostrophes.

Ok, our first use of apostrophes is in contractions. These are shortened forms of words. Now the

apostrophe replaces the missing letters so for example instead of saying I have, I would

say I've and the apostrophe there would replace the H and the A. Instead of she will, I'd

say she'll and the apostrophe will replace the W and I. We would becomes we'd. So the

apostrophe there replaces a lot of letters, doesn't it. It replaces woul and then you

get the D. So we have lots of contractions that you use the apostrophe. You see the apostrophe

a lot in the negative contractions. So is not becomes isn't. Are not becomes aren't.

Was not becomes wasn't. Have not becomes haven't etc. you get the idea. And the apostrophe

there plays an important role in replacing the O in each example. A common one that people

forget let's. So instead of let us we'd say let's. You put the apostrophe between the

T and the S. 'Let's go to the cinema.' You need the apostrophe there. It's important

to be aware of when you should use these contractions in your written English. Now generally contractions

are seen as informal language and so therefore you need to think about the context in which

you are writing. Are you writing an informal email in which case perfectly fine. If you

are writing a formal business proposal you might not want to use contractions, so think

about the context in which you are using your English. Two more examples of contractions

that you will always use. Of the clock becomes o'clock. So 'what time is it? 'It's seven

o'clock.' You always use that contraction, it's very rare that you would not see that

contraction. Also in a lot of old English, for example it was becomes 'Twas. For example

''Twas the night before Christmas.' The apostrophe goes before the T this is old fashioned English.

You wouldn't use this is your modern written English now but it's just an example of the

wide variety of contractions that we might use in English. Now be careful guys because

sometimes the apostrophe can change the meaning of a word. So for example take this sentence

'The dog wagged its/it's tail' Now should we use an apostrophe or not? Well you have

to think about the context here. The dog wagged its tail. Whose tail? The dog's tail. So this

is an example of a possessive pronoun. We don't use an apostrophe because its is a possessive

pronoun, we don't need it, we don't use it. A possessive pronoun modifies the noun and

it shows possession, it shows ownership over the thing. So as I say whose tail is it? The

dog's tail, right? So 'The dog wagged its tail.' It's can also be used as a contraction

of it is or it has. For example 'It's been three weeks since I saw my girlfriend.' It's

been, so do we use the apostrophe? Yes we do. Because it's it has been so it's the present

perfect there. It has been three weeks. So it's is a contraction of it has. So when you

are writing its, you need to think is this a contraction of it is or it has or is it

a possessive pronoun. And that will help you to decide if you use the apostrophe or not.

Wait till the end guys, I've got a couple of practise exercises for you to check your

understanding, alright? So don't go anywhere, hang around for that.

Other examples of contractions I've seen a lot are when we are trying to represent spoken

English in the written form. So the Michael Jackson song 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin''

It should be 'I want to be starting something' right? That's how it would be written grammatically

correctly. When it is said, wanna be startin' somethin'. Now he is using wanna, that's the

written form of what would be said but then we've got the startin', he's taken away the

G and put an apostrophe. And then something, again he's take away the G and put another

apostrophe. And that's another form of contraction. Is replacing the G on one of those words with

an apostrophe so something, starting, going etc. you get the idea.

Ok, and the second major use of apostrophes is when we talk about possession, owning things.

So in a singular noun we would put the apostrophe and then the 's. For example 'These are Tom's

shoes' they are my shoes they are Tom's shoes. So I put the apostrophe S. 'This is Shakespeare's

pen' true story. So again, so to show possession, it's apostrophe S. Shakespeare one person,

singular noun, so it's apostrophe S. Now when it's a plural noun we just put an apostrophe

at the end. So 'Where are the students' books?' Students' there are many of them, could be

two or more, could be thirty whatever. Because that's plural I'm putting just an apostrophe

at the end there. If you contrast that with 'Where are the student's books?' with the

apostrophe S, that's one singular student. One student and their books. Put the apostrophe

at the end, so students', that's many students. So you can see there the importance of the

apostrophe because it changes the meaning of the sentence. But wait, what if a plural

noun doesn't end in S, for example people or children. Hmmm well in that case we put

apostrophe S. So 'Where are the children's iPads?' Apostrophe S, for the plural. Now

as important as it is to know when to use an apostrophe, it's also important to know

when not to use the apostrophe. So for example in possessive pronouns, don't use an apostrophe,

alright? I mean mine, ok you are probably not going to use an apostrophe there but his,

hers, yours, theirs, ours or ours depending on your pronunciation. Don't use an apostrophe

for any of those words. We don't use them, we don't need them. 'Is that dog her?' as

you can see no apostrophe. Another super common mistake is to use them for plurals so 'I want

three banana's'. Don't, we don't, why, we don't use an apostrophe there, we don't need,

it's not. Bananas isn't possessive, why are we using an apostrophe there? We don't need

one. If you put an apostrophe with bananas it almost makes it like the bananas own something,

like they possess something. But they don't it's just three of them, three bananas, very

simple. So with plurals generally don't use apostrophes. Alright here we go, we are going

to do a little quiz. So I'm going to throw up some sentences on to the screen and I want

you to decide which sentence is correct. So look at the word that has the apostrophe or

doesn't have the apostrophe and decide if it should be there or not. I've got my fingers

crossed for you guys, come on! You can do it, I want full marks from everyone ok?

Alright how was that? Did that work? Was that ok? Did you get full marks? I hope so, if

you didn't re-wind this video, start at the point where you weren't quite sure, try and

look at that again, learn it and then come back and do the test again if you can, ok?

If you enjoyed this video guys please give it a big thumbs up, share it with anyone that

you think would find it useful. Maybe you are a native English speaker but you sometimes

make these mistakes and friends of yours make these mistakes, so please share it with them

as well, I'd love that. Or if you know anyone that needs to write in English, maybe students

or colleagues, share this with them so they also can avoid making these mistakes. I've

got new videos every Tuesday and every Friday helping you take your English to the next

level. Check me out on Instagram, Instagram stories where I put daily English content

and of course Facebook as well. Thank so much for hanging out with me guys. Until next time

guys, this is Tom, the Chief Dreamer, saying goodbye.