Apostrophes part 2

We saw in an earlier post how the apostrophe is used to replace a missing letter or letters.

Today we look at how the apostrophe is used to denote possession.

Jim's car = the car belonging to Jim
my aunt's house = the house of my aunt
Monday's jobs = the jobs of Monday

When the a name ends in -s  it's either s's or s' - whichever you think sounds better.

Bridget Jones's Diary = the diary of Bridget Jones

Robert Burns's Poetry - You often see Burns' poetry which is acceptable. But not Burn's poetry which is just plain wrong since the apostrophe cannot interrupt a word. Burns is the word.

Plural nouns - note the position of the apostrophe, after the s   -  s'

my aunts' house = the house of my aunts ie more than one aunt lives there cf my aunt's house

my parents' car = the car of my parents

This is frequently done incorrectly!
eg customer's car park implies they only have 1 customer!
If in doubt, turn it around 
Is it the car park of the customer or of the customers?


Test yourself:
Use a phrase with an apostrophe for


the bed of the dog
the icy blast of winter
the house of my friends
the friends of Mr Williams
the toilet of the ladies
the outfitter of the gents
letters of the readers




ANSWERS:
sɹǝʇʇǝl ,sɹǝpɐǝɹ ˙7  
ɹǝʇʇıɟʇno ,sʇuǝƃ ˙6  
ʇǝlıoʇ ,sǝıpɐl ǝɥʇ ˙5  
spuǝıɹɟ s,sɯɐıllıʍ ɹɯ ˙4  
ǝsnoɥ ,spuǝıɹɟ ʎɯ ˙3  
ʇsɐlq ʎɔı s,ɹǝʇuıʍ  ˙2  
pǝq s,ƃop ǝɥʇ ˙1