7.3 Apostrophes, Possessives, and Quotation Marks

The Apostrophe: Possession and Contraction

The apostrophe has two primary jobs in the English language: to indicate possession and to form contractions. Despite having only two main functions, the apostrophe is frequently misused, making it a popular target for questions on the ACCUPLACER exam.

Forming Possessives

Possessive nouns indicate ownership. The rules for forming possessives depend on whether the noun is singular or plural, and whether it ends in an 's'.

1. Singular Nouns: To form the possessive of a singular noun, always add an apostrophe followed by an 's' ('s), even if the noun already ends in 's'.

• The dog's collar (The collar belongs to one dog)
• The boss's office (The office belongs to one boss)
• Charles's book (The book belongs to Charles)

2. Plural Nouns Ending in 's': To form the possessive of a plural noun that already ends in 's', add only an apostrophe after the 's' (s').

• The teachers' lounge (The lounge belongs to multiple teachers)
• The students' grades (The grades belong to multiple students)

3. Plural Nouns Not Ending in 's': Some nouns have irregular plural forms that do not end in 's' (e.g., children, men, women). To form the possessive of these plural nouns, add an apostrophe followed by an 's' ('s).

• The children's toys (The toys belong to the children)
• The women's committee (The committee belongs to the women)

Student Trap: Never use an apostrophe to make a noun plural. Apostrophes indicate possession, not plurality.

• Incorrect: The apple's are ripe.
• Correct: The apples are ripe.

Forming Contractions

A contraction is a shortened form of two words combined into one. The apostrophe is placed exactly where letters have been omitted.

• Do not = Don't (the apostrophe replaces the 'o' in not)
• It is = It's (the apostrophe replaces the 'i' in is)
• They are = They're (the apostrophe replaces the 'a' in are)

Possessive Pronouns vs. Contractions

One of the most heavily tested concepts is the confusion between possessive pronouns and contractions that sound identical (homophones). Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe. If you are unsure which form to use, try expanding the contraction to see if the sentence still makes sense.

Examples:

• The company updated its policy. (Possessive)
• It's going to rain tomorrow. (Contraction: It is)
• Their presentation was excellent. (Possessive)
• They're presenting tomorrow. (Contraction: They are)

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Quotation Marks: Direct Speech and Titles

Quotation marks are used primarily to enclose direct speech, exact words from a source, or the titles of short works. Knowing how to punctuate around quotation marks is essential for clear writing.

Direct Quotations

Use double quotation marks to enclose a direct quotation—the exact words spoken or written by someone else.

Example: The manager announced, "Our sales have increased by twenty percent this quarter."

Notice that the first word of a complete sentence within quotation marks is capitalized. If the quotation is interrupted by an attribution (like "she said"), the second part of the quotation does not begin with a capital letter unless it starts a new sentence.

Example: "Our sales," the manager announced, "have increased by twenty percent this quarter."

Punctuation with Quotation Marks

The rules for placing punctuation inside or outside quotation marks can be tricky, but in American English, there are standard conventions:

1. Commas and Periods: Commas and periods always go inside the closing quotation mark.

• "I am reading a great book," he said.
• She replied, "I would love to borrow it."

2. Semicolons and Colons: Semicolons and colons always go outside the closing quotation mark.

• The critic called the film "a masterpiece of modern cinema"; however, the box office numbers were disappointing.

3. Question Marks and Exclamation Points: These go inside the quotation mark if they apply only to the quoted material, and outside if they apply to the whole sentence.

• Inside: He asked, "Are we there yet?" (The quote is a question.)
• Outside: Did the manager really say, "Our sales are down"? (The whole sentence is a question, but the quote is a statement.)

Titles of Short Works

Use quotation marks around the titles of short works, such as articles, essays, short stories, poems, and song titles. For larger, independent works like books, movies, or magazines, use italics.

Example: My favorite poem is "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost.

Passage-Based Editing Example: Original text: The student's argued that their test scores didn't accurately reflect there true abilities. Correction: There are two errors here. First, "student's" is incorrectly using an apostrophe to form a plural; it should be the plural subject "students." Second, "there" is an adverb of place; it should be the possessive pronoun "their" indicating that the abilities belong to the students. The correct version is: "The students argued that their test scores didn't accurately reflect their true abilities."

Understanding the distinction between plurals, possessives, and contractions, as well as the mechanical rules of quotation marks, is vital for the writing section of the exam.