When to Use an Apostrophe with "S"

I have seen an apostrophe followed by the letter "s" incorrectly more times than I can count. I see it on bloggers' Instagram accounts, on Christmas cards, on adorable front door signs with the family name scrawled across it, and more. However, there are dos and don'ts when it comes to that little punctuation/letter combination, and if they aren't followed - especially in a professional setting - your ability to meet your company's high expectations might be called into question.

When You SHOULD Use an Apostrophe with the Letter "S"

• If you are indicating possession or ownership
  • If a noun (person, place, or thing) or an indefinite pronoun (a pronoun that is a general indicator and not specific - i.e. "everybody" or "somebody") is possessing something, use an apostrophe + "s" (i.e. Sarah's keys, Fluffy's tail, Jason's phone, the car's battery, anyone's opinion, someone's dog).
  • If a noun is singular and ends in an "s" already, you should add an apostrophe and another "s" on the end (i.e. James's book).
  • If a noun is plural and ends in an "s" already, you should only add an apostrophe, not an additional "s" (i.e. the lawyers' arguments).
  • If possession is joint, or the item is being possessed/shared by more than one noun, then the apostrophe + "s" should only be used on the last noun (i.e. Have you visited John and Jane's new apartment?).
  • If possession is joint but the individuals mentioned do not share the item in question, then the apostrophe + "s" should be used on both nouns (i.e. Laura's and Gabe's ideas at the meeting were wildly different.).
• If you are referring to a word in quotation marks as a word, use an apostrophe + "S" (i.e. I am hearing a lot of "no's" at this meeting."); however, if you are referring to a word in italics instead of quotation marks, then you do not use the apostrophe + "s" (i.e. "I am hearing a lot of nos at this meeting").

When You Should NEVER Use an Apostrophe with the Letter "S"

• After a noun that is plural but is not indicating possession (i.e. "The players decided to stop the game" NOT "The player's decided to stop the game).
• If you are using the following possessive pronouns: its, whose, his, hers, ours, yours, & theirs (i.e. The dog chased its tail).
  • When you use an apostrophe + "s" with the word "it," making it "it's," then you are not indicating possession. "It's" is a conjunction; it is a combination of "it" and "is" and means "it is" (i.e. It's very warm outside today")​.
• If you are referring to a plural number, abbreviation, or letter, you should not use an apostrophe (i.e. "Leo painted in repeating figure 8s," "We've listed the GDPs of seven countries on this paper," "How many Bs can you find in this sentence?").

Woof, that was a lot of ground to cover, am I right? So, let's break it down a little bit with some examples of apostrophe + "s" combinations gone wrong that I see frequently from friends, family, and professionals:

1. A Christmas card signed "With love, the Smith's" - WRONG! In this case, you are not trying to show possession (unless you are saying "the Smith's dog," in which case the Christmas card would only be from the dog, not the entire family). The correct version is "With love, the Smiths."
2. I love Saturday's!  - WRONG! You should not use an apostrophe because "Saturday" is not showing possession of anything. The correct version is "I love Saturdays!"
3. The architect's met together over lunch to discuss a project. - WRONG! Because there are multiple architects, the noun is plural and is not showing ownership. So, the correct version would be "The architects met together over lunch to discuss a project."

Still overwhelmed? No worries. It's a lot to take in, especially if you are just now realizing that you've been using the wrong "its/it's" for years! The good news is that Crafty Copy can help you out with this; we provide professional editing services and can turn around your writing project in a snap (and ensure you've got all of your apostrophe + "s" combinations in the correct spots)! Give us a shout - we'd love to help you out on your next paper or presentation.