1. Unit 13 EOC Prep
Apostrophe Use

2. Apostrophes
• This is an apostrophe:
‘
• They are used primarily in two ways
1. Contractions
2. Possessives

3. Contractions
• Contractions combine two words and leave
out a few letters of the second word.
• The apostrophe goes where the letters are left
out.
For example:
can not = can’t (n o from the word not were
replaced with an apostrophe)
it is = it’s (i from is was replaced with an
apostrophe)

4. Possessives
• Possessives show ownership.
• Usually you add ‘s to singular words and s’ to
plural words to show possession.
For example:
The cat’s bowl is full of food. (The bowl belongs to
the cat. There is one cat, so I added an
apostrophe and the letter s.)
I have three cats that share a toy. The cats’ toy is a
mouse. (The toy belongs to the cats. There are
three cats, so I added an apostrophe after the
letter s.)

5. How to Answer These Questions
Correctly
1. Try to substitute in either a possessive or a
contraction to see if that apostrophe is doing a
job.
2. Figure out if it’s showing ownership (can you
replace it with an “of” statement, like the bowl
of the cat.) If it is, make sure the apostrophe is in
the right place for singular/plural.
3. See if you can replace it with the two words that
it might be a contraction for.
4. If it’s not a possessive, or a contraction, then the
apostrophe shouldn’t be there.