4 apostrophe mistakes to avoid
Here’s a quick primer on the omnipresent punctuation mark’s functions, its misuses, and how to know when (and when not) to insert them.
Though you might think a misused apostrophe is nothing to summon the grammar police over, I beg to differ. Misusing an apostrophe can change the meaning of words and even an entire sentence, and it just matters.
Now, before I go over some of the most common apostrophe mistakes, allow me to give a brief lesson on the primary functions of apostrophes:
(1) Apostrophes are used to indicate missing letters in contractions. For example can’t is short for cannot. Don’t is short for do not. It’s is short for it is. You get the point.
(2) Apostrophes are also used to show possession/ownership or relationship. For example, the boy’s shoes or the president’s wife.
So, now that we’ve discussed the main uses of apostrophes, let’s talk about some mistakes to avoid when using them.
Mistake No. 1: Using apostrophes to make a word plural
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