Uses of the apostrophe

The main use of apostrophe is to show that a person or thing belongs to somebody.

We indicate this by adding an apostrophe and ‘s’ to singular nouns.

• This is John’s laptop.
• He is my brother’s colleague.

In the case of plural nouns ending in ‘s’ only an apostrophe is added.

• The students’ hostel is not far from here.

When the plural noun does not end in ‘s’, we use an apostrophe and ‘s’ to form the possessive form.

• They have a nice collection of children’s books.

Apostrophe is also used to show that letters or numbers have been omitted.

• I’m not interested in this. (I’m = I am)

• June ’99 = June 1999