Apostrophe : Punctuation Mark

.





The apostrophe (')is a punctuation mark . It is used for two purposes.


1.To show that one or more letters have been missed out
When we are speaking we frequently skip certain sounds, running parts of a word together. For example did not becomes didn’t. When these words are written down, an apostrophe is used to show that letters have been missed out.

I will- I’ll
I shall- I’ll
I am- I’m
will not- won't
shall not- shan't
I would- I’d
I had- I’d
What is- what’s
What was- what’s
I have- I’ve
she is- she's
What is - what’s
they are- they're

who is - who’s

He is - he’s

As the examples show, the way in which some of these shortened forms are written down is rather selective. It works well when 'is' and 'are' are shortened, but in the case of 'won't' and 'shan't', the apostrophe does not show where all the letters have been omitted; otherwise we would write sha'n't, and no rule can cover the change from will not to won 't.

2.To show possession
We also use the apostrophe to show that something belongs to someone. For example: Lord Rochester's monkey the girl's handbag the Browns' SilverWedding anniversary several churches' position on gay priests
As these examples show, the rule is that if the name or noun is in the singular, we add an apostrophe followed by the letter 's'. If the name or noun is a plural ending in 's' then we simply add an apostrophe. (Plurals that do not end in 's' follow the rule for singular nouns: a children's playground.)
Exception
There is one exception to the rule. When its means 'of it' there is no apostrophe. This commonly causes problems. The rule is:
it's = it is and its-of it

Banks :a plural form of bank but
bank’s (employees,): 1. Of bank Possessive case
2. Bank is

In letters apostrophe is often missused in 'Yours faithfully as your's which is wrong. Simply 'yours' is correct.

What is your mother's name?
What is your sister's name? But
What are your sisters' names?