Students learning English quickly learn that the apostrophe in English is normally used to make a contraction.
For example, instead of writing IT IS, you can write IT’S
Instead of HE IS, we can write HE’S … etc.
However the apostrophe is not only used to show a contraction has been made.
It is also commonly used to show that something belongs to someone or has a relationship with them.
This is called the Genitive Case and also the Possessive Case.
Check out the two charts I have made to explain when we use to use the apostrophe:
This is the original chart I created in 2012…
And this is the new chart I created in 2019:
It is nice to see my charts improve a little over time 🙂
PLEASE NOTE: We do NOT use the Apostrophe S to make singular words plural. 1 apple, 2 apples (Not 2 apple’s)
More information about the Apostrophe S
For more information about using ‘S, check out:
- Apostrophe S – Possessive Nouns (Lesson in the free English course here on this website)
- The Apostrophe S in English (Lesson on my grammar.cl website)
I hope you found this useful.
