Apostrophe Rules

In my last post I went through the top ten grammar problems. One of those problems was apostrophe's being used incorrectly.
The apostrophe is quite universal and is a great aid in effective writing.

I went to www.grammarbook.com in my to get most of the information that I'm going to share in this post. So believe it or not this website provided me with 13 useful apostrophe rules to share. That's right, 13.

Rule 1 - Use the apostrophe with contarctions
A contraction is a shortened version of the written or spoken forms of a word. The apostrophe is always placed at the part where the letter(s) have been removed.
A simple example of this is DO NOT = DON'T

Rule 2 -Use the apostrophe to show possession
Place the apostrophe before the s to show singular possesion.
That guy's bike

Rule 3 -Use the apostrophe when the noun that should follow is implied
That was his father's, not his, football

Rule 4 - To show plural possession
Make the noun plural and then immediatley add the apostrophe
Example - Two children's bats

Rule 5 - Do not use an apostrophe for a name
Example - The Smiths place

Rule 6 - with a singular compund noun to show possession
To add possession to a singular compund noun, that is a noun that's made up of two or more words, add an 's.
Example my Brother-in-law's case

Rule 7 - If the compound noun is plural form the plural first and then use the apostrophe
So make the whole statement plural and then add the punctuation
Example my parents-in-law's jackets

Rule 8 - Use an apostrophe and s after the second name if the two people possess the same item
Mike and Vanessa's grades will be up later this month

Rule 9 - Never use apostrophes with possessive pronouns
Possessive pronouns such as his or hers for example already show possession and do not need the aid of an apostrophe

Rule 10 - It
The only time an apostrophe is used for it is when it's a contraction for it has or it is
Example It has = It's

Rule 11 - The plurals for capital letters and number used as nouns are not formed with apostrophes
Example the 1990s not the 1990's

Rule 12 - Use the possessive case in front of a gerund
A gerund is an word ending with the ing addition.
Example The gift basket did not effect the teacher's grading

Rule 13 - If the gerund has a pronoun infront of it, use the possessive form of that pronoun/b]
Example - I [b]appreciated his working with me

So there you have, it a few rules revolving around our friend the apostrophe. It was stiff I'll admit so here's some... Apostrophe fun facts

The apostrophe looks just like the prime symbol which is used to measue feet. 6' is 6 feet. It also looks like the Okina in Polynesian language which means stop.

The apostrophe has a Greek, Latin, and French backround.

The last fact for today is that the apostrophe was introduced to English in the 16th century in imaitation of French practice.