USING APOSTROPHES

 

John‘s book	The book belongs to John.
the brothers’ book	The book belongs to two or more brothers.
the man‘s car	The car belongs to one man.
the men‘s car	One car belongs to two or more men.
the witness‘s (or witness’) book	The book belongs to one witness.
the witness‘s (or witness’) books	One witness owns more than one book.
the witnesses’ book	The book belongs to two or more witnesses.
the witnesses’ books	Two or more witnesses each own more than one book.
the witnesses are looking at a book	Two or more witnesses are looking at books they each own.
the witnesses are looking at their books	Two or more witnesses are looking at one or more books they each own. or Two or more witnesses are looking at two or more books they all own together.
someone‘s car	The car belongs to someone.
something‘s help	The help belongs to something.
something‘s open	Something is open.

Some examples of two words becoming one.

I + am = Iam = I’m	I’m fine.
it + is = itis = it’s	It’s fine.
he + is = heis = he’s	He’s fine.
she + is = sheis = she’s	She’s fine.
we + are = weare = we’re	We’re fine.
you + are = youare = you’re	You’re fine.
they + are = theyare = they’re	They’re fine.
that + is = thatis = that’s	That’s okay.
I + will = Iwill = I’ll	I’ll pay the money.
he + will = hewill = he’ll	He’ll pay the money.
she + will = shewill = she’ll	She’ll pay the money.
it + will = itwill = it’ll	It’ll pay the money.
we + will = wewill = we’ll	We’ll pay the money.
you + will = youwill = you’ll	You’ll pay the money.
they + will = theywill = they’ll	They’ll pay the money.
that + will = thatwill = that’ll	That’ll be fine.
this + will = thiswill = this’ll	This’ll be fine.
I + have = Ihave = I’ve	I’ve taken the money.
he + has = hehas = he’s	He’s taken the money.
she + has = shehas = she’s	She’s taken the money.
we + have = wehave = we’ve	We’ve taken the money.
you + have = youhave = you’ve	You’ve taken the money.
they + have = theyhave = they’ve	They’ve taken the money.
I + had = Ihad = I’d	I’d like to go.
he + had = hehad = he’d	He’d like to go.
she + had = shehad = she’d	She’d like to go.
we + had = wehad = we’d	We’d like to go.
you + had = youhad = you’d	You’d like to go.
they + had = theyhad = they’d	They’d like to go.
will + not = willnot = won’t	It won’t work.
do + not = donot = don’t	They don’t work.
does + not = doesnot = doesn’t	It doesn’t work.
did + not = didnot = didn’t	She didn’t go.
should + not = shouldnot = shouldn’t	She shouldn’t go.
could + not = couldnot = couldn’t	They couldn’t go.
would + not = wouldnot = wouldn’t	We wouldn’t go.
can + not = cannot	You cannot go.
cannot = can’t	We can’t go.
are + not = arenot = aren’t	You aren’t starting.
had + not = hadnot = hadn’t	They hadn’t started.
have + not = havenot = haven’t	They haven’t started.

 

Ain’t is never correct.

am + not = ain’t	I ain’t listening.
is + not = ain’t	He ain’t listening.
are + not = ain’t	They ain’t listening.

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