When to use apostrophes - Laura McClure
When to use apostrophes - Laura McClure
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/when-to-use…
It’s possessive. It’s often followed by S’s. And it’s sometimes tricky when it comes to its usage. It’s the apostrophe. Laura McClure gives a refresher on when to use apostrophes in writing.
Lesson by Laura McClure, animation by Karrot Animation.
Content
8.245 -> Is it a flying comma,
or a quotation mark chopped in half?
13.226 -> Either way, you may already be well-versed
in how to use the apostrophe,
17.885 -> but here's a quick refresher on its usage.
20.705 -> The apostrophe can be used in three ways:
23.792 -> to mark possession,
25.55 -> to mark contraction,
27.965 -> to mark the plural of single letters.
31.173 -> Most of the time, if you see an apostrophe
hovering helpfully near a word,
35.292 -> it's trying to mark possession
or contraction.
38.605 -> First, let's look at how the apostrophe
marks possession.
42.552 -> As you can see, the placement
of this punctuation mark
45.666 -> can really change
the meaning of a sentence.
49.298 -> "Those robots in
the sand are my sister's."
52.768 -> "Those robots in
the sand are my sisters.'"
56.596 -> "Those robots in the sand are my sisters."
60.799 -> When showing possession, the apostrophe
belongs next to the noun
64.586 -> that owns or possesses something.
67.028 -> The noun can be singular or plural.
69.986 -> Proper nouns work, too.
72.172 -> So if Lucy needs to get her robots
under control before they cause mayhem,
76.23 -> those dangerous creatures
would be "Lucy's robots."
80.355 -> But what if Lucy was Lucas?
82.451 -> Would we write "Lucas' robots"
or "Lucas's robots"?
86.788 -> And what if Lucas gave his robots
to the Robinsons family?
90.744 -> Would it be "The Robinsons' robots,"
or "The Robinsons's robots"?
95.425 -> The truth is, even grammar nerds
disagree on the right thing to do.
100.117 -> The use of 's after a proper noun
ending in s is a style issue,
106.062 -> not a hard and fast grammar rule.
108.54 -> It's a conundrum
without a simple answer.
111.015 -> Professional writers solve this problem
by learning what's considered correct
114.64 -> for a publication, and doing that.
117.401 -> The important thing is to pick one style
119.69 -> and stick with it
throughout a piece of writing.
123.311 -> One more wrinkle.
124.219 -> Certain pronouns already
have possession built in
127.938 -> and don't need an apostrophe.
130.132 -> Remembering that will help you avoid one
of the trickiest snags in English grammar:
134.78 -> its vs. it's.
137.087 -> "It's" only take an apostrophe when it's
a contraction for "it is" or "it has."
142.94 -> If you can replace "it's" with
one of those two phrases,
145.835 -> use the apostrophe.
147.946 -> If you're showing possession,
leave it out.
150.619 -> Otherwise, contractions
are pretty straightforward.
153.96 -> The apostrophe stands in
for missing letters,
156.588 -> and lets common phrases
squash into a single word.
160.418 -> In rare cases, you can have
a double contraction,
163.336 -> though those generally
aren't accepted in writing,
166.354 -> with the exception of dialogue.
168.853 -> So it's possessive,
it's often followed by s's,
172.175 -> and it's sometimes tricky
when it comes to its usage.
176.187 -> It's the apostrophe.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My6oGvkHnfY