by Debbie Robus

Created on: June 27, 2010   Last Updated: July 06, 2010

Some of the most intelligent, well-read and well-written people do not practice the correct usage of the apostrophe. 

One instance that annoys me is the use of an apostrophe in a surname on mailboxes, i.e. "The Smiths'," or "The Doe's."  Sure, the house belongs to the Doe family, as does the mailbox, but to add an apostrophe and  show "ownership" on the mailbox is grammatically incorrect.  Okay, so maybe I need to get a life!  And as I often say... "Maybe my 'school teacher' background is showing," but learning to use an apostrophe correctly is not rocket science... and it does matter.

When I was in sixth grade, my English teacher required each of us to purchase a booklet  by J. Martyn Walsh called "The Plain English Handbook."   I think mine cost $1 in 1968, but the book is still in print today and available via www.Amazon.com.  I believe every home should contain a copy! Everything from misplaced modifiers to correct pronouns, dangling participles, and even correct letter writing form are covered - as well proper uses of the colon, the comma, and yes... the apostrophe.

Basically, there are three uses for apostrophes:  contractions, such as isn't, wasn't, aren't; plurals of letters, signs and symbols such as two a's, three i's and four plus's; and possessive nouns and indefinite pronouns... a dog's bark, men's shoes, and everyone's responsibilities.  In recent years, new writing styles, including the  AP style, allow for omitting the apostrophe in numbers and dates, such as the 1920s and a reference to something that happened to you in your 40s. 

I still like the apostrophe, and I've had a hard time letting it go in my own writings in these instances.  But it does bear mentioning that we must pay attention to usage of the apostrophe in the style that is requested for our particular writing and comply accordingly.

Beyond this, there are rules for using the apostrophe with nouns and possessive pronouns that end in the letter "s."  In these cases, it is proper to either add an apostrophe at the end of the word, such as Smiths' home - or to add an apostrophe and the letter "s," as in the Jones's car.

Just as there are places to use the apostrophe appropriately, there are places where it is never used.  These include possessive personal pronouns... its, his, hers, theirs.  To do so in this instance can often make the word into a contraction.  For instance, it

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