View source for Apostrophe

{{Short description|Punctuation or diacritical mark (')}}
{{Hatnote|The mark '''{{char|'}}''' redirects here. For other uses, see [[' (disambiguation)]].}}<!-- This method used because the mark is too slight and thus difficult to see when {{Redirect}} is used. xref [[MOS:ACCESS]]. -->
{{About|the punctuation mark}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox punctuation mark
| mark     = {{serif|’{{nbs}}'}}
| name     = Apostrophe
| unicode  = <!-- Per discussion at talk page, this element is not shown in the infobox because "it's too complicated" and so is detailed in the body. -->
| variant1 = {{serif|’}}{{nbs}}{{sans-serif|’}}
| caption1 = Punctuation apostrophe ([[serif]] and [[sans-serif]] styles)
| variant2 = {{serif|'}}{{nbs}}{{sans-serif|'}}
| caption2 = Typewriter apostrophe (both styles)
}}
{{Orthography notation}}
The '''apostrophe''' ('''{{serif|{{char|’}}}}''', '''{{serif|{{char|'}}}}''') is a [[punctuation]] mark and sometimes a [[diacritic]]al mark in languages that use the [[Latin alphabet]] and some other writing systems. In English, the apostrophe is used for two basic purposes:
* The marking of the omission of one or more letters, e.g., the [[contraction (grammar)|contraction]] of "do not" to "don't"
* The marking of [[Possessive|possessive case]] of nouns (as in "the eagle's feathers", "in one month's time", "the twins' coats")

It is also used in a few exceptional cases for the [[#Use in forming some plurals|marking of plurals]], e.g., "[[p's and q's]]" or [[Oakland A's]]. The same mark is used as a [[single quotation mark]]. It is also substituted informally for other marks{{snd}} for example instead of the [[prime symbol]] to indicate the units of [[foot (unit)|foot]] or [[minutes of arc]].

The word ''apostrophe'' comes from the [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] {{lang|grc|ἡ ἀπόστροφος [προσῳδία]}} ({{translit|grc|hē apóstrophos [prosōidía]}}, {{gloss|[the accent of] turning away or elision}}), through [[Latin language|Latin]] and [[French language|French]].<ref>Oxford English Dictionary</ref>{{Full citation needed|date=April 2026}}<ref>{{cite book |quote=The English form ''apostrophe'' is due to its adoption via French and its current pronunciation as four syllables is due to a confusion with the rhetorical device ''[[apostrophe (figure of speech)|apostrophé]]'' |first=W. S. |last=Allen |title=Vox Graeca: The Pronunciation of Classical Greek |edition=3rd |date=1987 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |at=p. 100, note&nbsp;13}}</ref>

== Usage in English ==
{{Anchor|English language usage|English-language usage}}

=== Historical development ===
The apostrophe was first used by [[Pietro Bembo]] in his edition of ''[[De Aetna]]'' (1496).<ref name="Castellani">{{cite journal |last=Castellani |first=Arrigo |date=1995 |title=Sulla formazione del sistema paragrafematico moderno |trans-title=On the formation of the modern paragraphamatic system |journal=Studi linguistici italiani |volume=21 |pages=3–47:4 |language=it}}</ref> It was introduced into English in the [[16th century]] in imitation of French practice.<ref name="Crystal">{{cite book |last=Crystal |first=David |author-link=David Crystal |title=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language |edition=2nd |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2003 |page=203 |isbn=0521530334}}</ref>

==== French practice ====
Introduced by [[Geoffroy Tory]] (1529),<ref>{{cite book |first1=Urban Tigner |last1=Holmes |first2=Alexander Herman |last2=Schutz |title=History of the French Language |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jbjX4ebc2lsC&pg=PA73 73]|orig-date=1938 |date=1967 |publisher=Biblo & Tannen Publishers |isbn=9780819601919 }}</ref> the apostrophe was used in place of a vowel letter to indicate [[Elision in the French language|elision]] (as in {{lang|fr|l'heure}} in place of {{lang|fr|la heure}}). It was also frequently used in place of a final {{angbr|e}} (which was still pronounced at the time) when it was elided before a vowel, as in {{lang|fr|un' heure}}. Modern French [[orthography]] has restored the spelling {{lang|fr|une heure}}.<ref>{{cite book |first=Alfred |last=Ewert |title=The French Language |date=1933 |publisher=Faber & Faber |location=London |page=119}}</ref>

==== Early English practice ====
From the [[16th century]], following French practice, the apostrophe was used when a vowel letter was omitted either because of incidental [[elision]] ("I'm" for "I am") or because the letter no longer represented a sound ("lov'd" for "loved"). [[English orthography|English spelling]] retained many [[inflection]]s that were not pronounced as [[syllable]]s, notably verb endings ("-est", "-eth", "-es", "-ed") and the noun ending "-es", which marked either plurals or possessives, also known as [[Genitive case|genitives]] {{crossreference|printworthy=y|(see [[#Possessive apostrophe|Possessive apostrophe]], below)}}. An apostrophe followed by {{angbr|s}} was often used to mark a plural;<ref name="Crystal" /> specifically, the ''[[Oxford Companion]] to the English Language'' notes:

{{blockquote
| There was formerly a respectable tradition (17th to 19th centuries) of using the apostrophe for noun plurals, especially in [[loanword]]s ending in a vowel (as in{{nbsp}}... ''Comma's are used'', [[Philip Luckombe|Philip Luckcombe]], 1771) and in the consonants ''s'', ''z'', ''ch'', ''sh'', (as in ''waltz's'' and ''cotillions'', [[Washington Irving]], 1804)...<ref name="OxComp92">{{cite book |title=The [[Oxford Companion]] to the English Language |editor-first=Tom |editor-last=McArthur |editor-link=Tom McArthur (linguist) |date=1992 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=75, 715}}</ref><ref name="OxComp18">{{cite book |title=The [[Oxford Companion]] to the English Language |editor1-last=McArthur |editor1-first=Tom |editor1-link=Tom McArthur (linguist) |editor2-last=Lam-McArthur |editor2-first=Jacqueline |editor3-last=Fontaine |editor3-first=Lise |date=2018 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |edition=2nd |pages=44, 433}}</ref>
}}

==== Standardisation ====
The use of [[elision]] has continued to the present day, but significant changes have been made to the [[possessive case|possessive]] and [[plural]] uses. By the 18th century, an apostrophe with the addition of an {{angbr|s}} was regularly used for all [[possessive case|possessive]] [[Grammatical number|singular]] forms, even when the letter {{angbr|e}} was not omitted (as in "the gate's height"). This was regarded as representing not the elision of the {{angbr|e}} in the "-e" or "-es" ending of the word being pluralized, but the elision of the {{angbr|e}} from the [[Old English]] [[genitive]] singular [[inflection]] "-es".

The plural genitive did not use the "-es" inflection,<ref name="Wilde2012">{{cite book |title=Old English Grammar |first=William R. |last=Wilde |date=2012 |publisher=Forgotten Books}}</ref> and since many plural forms already consisted of the "-s" or "-es" ending, using the apostrophe in place of the elisioned {{angbr|e}} could lead to singular and plural possessives of a given word having the exact same spelling. The solution was to use an apostrophe after the [[plural]] {{angbr|s}} (as in "girls' dresses"); however, this was not universally accepted until the mid-19th century.<ref name="Crystal" /> Plurals not ending in -s keep the -'s marker, such as "children's toys, the men's toilet", since there was no risk of ambiguity.

=== Possessive apostrophe ===
{{See also|English possessive}}
The apostrophe is used in English to indicate what is, for historical reasons, misleadingly called the [[possessive]] case in the English language. This case was called the [[Genitive case|genitive]] until the 18th century and, like the genitive case in other languages, expresses relationships other than [[Possession (linguistics)|possession]]. For example, in the expressions "the school's headmaster", "the men's department", and "tomorrow's weather", the school does not own/possess the headmaster, men do not own/possess the department, and tomorrow does not/will not own the weather. In the words of ''[[Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage]]'':

{{blockquote
| The argument is a case of fooling oneself with one's own terminology. After the 18th-century grammarians began to refer to the genitive case as the possessive case, grammarians and other commentators got it into their heads that the only use of the case was to show possession{{nbsp}}... Simply changing the name of the genitive does not change or eliminate any of its multiple functions.<ref>{{cite book |page=[https://archive.org/details/merriamwebstersd00merr/page/475 475] |title=Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/ |url-access=registration |date=1994 |publisher=Merriam-Webster |isbn=9780877791324}}</ref>
}}

That dictionary also cites a study,<ref>{{Cite book |title=American English Grammar: The Grammatical Structure of Present-day American English with Especial Reference to Social Differences Or Class Dialects |first=Charles Carpenter |last=Fries |url=https://archive.org/details/americanenglishg00frie |url-access=registration |date=1940 |publisher=Appleton-Century |page=[https://archive.org/details/americanenglishg00frie/page/75/mode/1up 75]}}</ref> which found that only 40% of the possessive forms were used to indicate actual possession.<ref>{{cite book |page=[https://archive.org/details/merriamwebstersd00merr/page/475 475] |title=Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage |url=https://archive.org/details/merriamwebstersd00merr |url-access=registration |date=1994 |publisher=Merriam-Webster |isbn=9780877791324 |quote=The only statistical investigation of the genitive case that we are aware of can be found in Fries 1940. Fries found that the possessive genitive was the most common, but that it accounted for only 40 percent of all genitives.}}</ref> The modern spelling convention distinguishes possessive singular forms ("Bernadette's", "flower's", "glass's", "one's") from simple plural forms ("Bernadettes", "flowers", "glasses", "ones"), and both of those from possessive plural forms ("Bernadettes{{'"}}, "flowers{{'"}}, "glasses{{'"}}, "ones{{'"}}). For example, the word "glass's" is the singular possessive form of the noun "glass". The plural form of "glass" is "glasses" and the plural possessive form is, therefore, "glasses{{'"}}. One would therefore say "I drank the glass's contents" to indicate drinking from one glass, but "I drank the glasses' contents" after also drinking from another glass. For singular forms, the modern possessive or [[genitive]] inflection is a survival from [[Old English grammar#Nouns|certain genitive inflections]] in Old English, for which the apostrophe originally marked the loss of the old {{angbr|e}} (for example, {{lang|ang|lambes}} became {{lang|ang|lamb's}}). Its use for indicating plural "possessive" forms was not standard before the middle of the 19th century.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

==== General principles for the possessive apostrophe ====

===== Summary of rules for most situations =====
* Possessive personal pronouns, serving as either noun-equivalents or adjective-equivalents, do not use an apostrophe, even when they end in {{angbr|s}}. The complete list of those ending in the letter {{angbr|s}} or the corresponding sound {{IPA|/s/}} or {{IPA|/z/}} but not taking an apostrophe is "ours", "yours", "his", "hers", "its", "theirs", and "whose".
* Other pronouns, singular nouns not ending in {{angbr|s}}, and plural nouns not ending in {{angbr|s}} all take {{" '}}s" in the possessive: e.g., "someone's", "a cat's toys", "women's".
* Plural nouns already ending in {{angbr|s}} take only an apostrophe after the pre-existing {{angbr|s}} to form the possessive: e.g., "three cats' toys".

===== Basic rule (singular nouns) =====
For most singular nouns, the ending {{" '}}s" is added; e.g., "the cat's whiskers".
* If a singular noun ends with an {{angbr|s}}-sound (spelled with "-s", "-se", for example), practice varies as to whether to add {{" '}}s" or the apostrophe alone. In many cases, both spoken and written forms differ between writers {{crossreference|(see details [[#Singular nouns ending with an "s" or "z" sound|below]])}}.
* Acronyms and initialisms used as nouns (DVD, RADAR, UN, CDC, etc.) follow the same rules as singular nouns: e.g., "the TV's picture quality".

===== <span class="anchor" id="Plural possessive"></span>Basic rule (plural nouns) =====
When the noun is a normal plural, with an added {{angbr|s}}, no extra {{angbr|s}} is added in the possessive, and it is pronounced accordingly; so "the neighbours' garden" (there is more than one neighbour owning the garden) is standard rather than "the neighbours's garden".
* If the plural is not one that is formed by adding {{angbr|s}}, an {{angbr|s}} is added for the possessive, after the apostrophe: "children's hats", "women's hairdresser", "some people's eyes" (but compare "some peoples' recent emergence into nationhood", where "peoples" is meant as the plural of the singular "people"). These principles are universally accepted.
* A few English nouns have plurals that are not spelled with a final {{angbr|s}} but nevertheless end in an {{IPA|/s/}} or a {{IPA|/z/}} sound: "mice" (plural of "mouse"; also in compounds like "[[dormouse]]", "[[titmouse]]"), "[[dice]]" (when used as the plural of "die"), "pence" (a plural of "penny", with compounds like "sixpence" that now tend to be taken as singulars). In the absence of specific exceptional treatment in style guides, the possessives of these plurals are formed by adding an apostrophe and an {{angbr|s}} in the standard way: "seven [[titmice|titmice's]] tails were found", "the dice's last fall was a seven", "his few pence's value was not enough to buy bread". These would often be rephrased, where possible: "the last fall of the dice was a seven".{{NoteTag|"Pease" as an old plural of "pea" is indeterminate: Lentils' and pease'[s] use in such dishes was optional. Nouns borrowed from French ending in ''-eau'', ''-eu'', ''-au'', or ''-ou'' sometimes have alternative plurals that retain the French ''-x'' plural indicator: ''beaux'' or ''beaus''; ''bureaux'' or ''bureaus''; ''adieux'' or ''adieus''; ''fabliaux'' or ''fabliaus''; ''choux'' or ''chous''. The {{angbr|x}} in these plurals is often pronounced. If it is, then (in the absence of specific rulings from style guides) the plural possessives are formed with an apostrophe alone: ''the beaux' [or beaus'] appearance at the ball''; ''the bureaux' [or bureaus'] responses differed''. If the {{angbr|x}} is not pronounced, then in the absence of special rulings the plurals are formed with an apostrophe followed by an {{angbr|s}}: ''the beaux's appearance''; ''the bureaux's responses''; ''their adieux's effect was that everyone wept''. See also [[#Nouns ending with silent s, x, or z|Nouns ending with silent {{angbr|s}}, {{angbr|x}} or {{angbr|z}}]], below, and attached notes.}}

===== Basic rule (compound nouns) =====
Compound nouns have their singular possessives formed with an apostrophe and an added {{angbr|s}}, in accordance with the given rules: ''the Attorney-General's husband''; ''the [[Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports]]'s prerogative''; ''this Minister for Justice's intervention''; ''her father-in-law's new wife''.
* In such examples, the plurals are formed with an {{angbr|s}} that does not occur at the end: e.g., ''attorneys-general''. A problem therefore arises with the ''possessive'' plurals of these compounds. Sources that rule on the matter appear to favour the following forms, in which there is both an {{angbr|s}} added to form the plural, and a separate {{angbr|'s}} added for the possessive: ''the attorneys-general's husbands''; ''successive Ministers for Justice's interventions''; ''their fathers-in-law's new wives''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Style Guide |url=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/bjssg.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080313021406/http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/bjssg.pdf |archive-date=March 13, 2008 |publisher=US Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gpoaccess.gov/stylemanual/2000/chapter_txt-8.html |url-status=dead |title=The United States Government Printing Office Style Manual 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060627092149/http://www.gpoaccess.gov/stylemanual/2000/chapter_txt-8.html |archive-date=27 June 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=[[The Chicago Manual of Style]] |chapter=§5.25 |quote=The possessive of a multiword compound noun is formed by adding the appropriate ending to the last word {parents-in-law's message}.}}</ref> Because these constructions stretch the resources of punctuation beyond comfort, in practice they are normally reworded: ''interventions by successive Ministers for Justice''.<ref>CMOS, 7.25: "If plural compounds pose problems, opt for ''of''. ... ''the professions of both my daughters-in-law''."</ref><ref>[http://www.llc.manchester.ac.uk/subjects/lel/staff/david-denison/papers/Fileuploadmax10Mb,120431,en.pdf ''Is the English Possessive ''{{'s}}'' Truly a Right-hand Phenomenon?'']{{dead link|date=May 2012}}</ref>

===== Joint or separate possession =====
For two nouns (or noun phrases) joined by ''and'', there are several ways of expressing possession, including:
:1. marking of the last noun (e.g. "Jack and Jill's children")
:2. marking of both nouns (e.g. "Jack's and Jill's children").<ref name="Cambridge Grammar: Coordination and genitives">{{cite book |last1=Huddleston |first1=Rodney |author1-link=Rodney Huddleston |last2=Pullum |first2=Geoffrey |author2-link=Geoffrey Pullum |title=The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521431468 |pages=1330–1332}}</ref>
Some grammars make no distinction in meaning between the two forms.{{NoteTag|For instance:
* ''[[The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language]]'', explicitly states
::"Types I [Jack and Jill's] and II [Jack's and Jill's] are not semantically contrastive. Both allow either a joint or distributive interpretation of the genitive relation."<ref name="Cambridge Grammar: Coordination and genitives" />
* ''[[A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language]]'' explicitly states
::"A coordination of genitives such as ''John's and Mary's children'' may be interpreted in either a combinatory or a segregatory fashion:
:::combinatory meaning:
:::::'the children who are joint offspring of John and Mary'
::: segregatory meaning:
:::::'John's child and Mary's child'
::: or 'John's children and Mary's child'
::: or 'John's child and Mary's children'
::: or 'John's children and Mary's children' "<ref name="Comprehensive Grammar: Coordination of genitives">{{cite book |last1=Quirk |first1=Randolph |author-link1=Randolph Quirk |last2=Greenbaum |first2=Sidney |author-link2=Sidney Greenbaum |last3=Leech |first3=Geoffrey |author-link3=Geoffrey Leech |last4=Svartvik |first4=Jan |date=1985 |title=A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language |url=https://archive.org/details/comprehensivegra00quir |url-access=registration |location=Harlow |publisher=Longman |isbn=9780582517349 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/comprehensivegra00quir/page/963 963–965]}}</ref>}} Some publishers' style guides make a distinction, assigning the "segregatory" (or "distributive") meaning to the form "John's and Mary's" and the "combinatorial" (or "joint") meaning to the form "John and Mary's".{{NoteTag|For instance:
* ''[[The Chicago Manual of Style]]'' (16th ed.) states:
:"Closely linked nouns are considered a single unit in forming the possessive when the thing being 'possessed' is the same for both; only the second element takes the possessive form.
::my aunt and uncle's house ...
:When the things possessed are discrete, both nouns take the possessive form.
::my aunt's and uncle's medical profiles ..."<ref name="CMS: Joint versus separate possession">{{cite book |title=The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=1993 |isbn=9780226103891 |edition=14th |page=356}}</ref>
* ''[[New Hart's Rules]]'' states:
:"Use ''{{'}}s'' after the last of a set of linked nouns where the nouns are acting together ... but repeat ''{{'}}s'' after each noun in a set where the nouns are acting separately"<ref name="New Hart's Rules: Possession ">{{cite book |chapter=New Hart's Rules |title=New Oxford Style Manual |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199657223 |page=64}}</ref>
* ''[[Garner's Modern American Usage]]'' states
:"For joint possession, an apostrophe goes with the last element in a series of names. If you put an apostrophe with each element in the series, you signal individual possession."<ref name="Garner's: Joint possessives">{{cite book |last=Garner |first=Bryan A. |author-link=Bryan A. Garner |title=Garner's Modern American Usage |url=https://archive.org/details/garnersmodername00garn |url-access=registration |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780195161915 |page=[https://archive.org/details/garnersmodername00garn/page/625 625]}}</ref>}} A third alternative is a construction of the form "Jack's children and Jill's", which is always distributive, i.e. it designates the combined set of Jack's children and Jill's children.<ref name="Cambridge Grammar: Coordination and genitives" />

When a coordinate possessive construction has two personal pronouns, the normal possessive inflection is used, and there is no apostrophe (e.g., "his and her children"). The issue of the use of the apostrophe arises when the coordinate construction includes a noun (phrase) and a pronoun. In this case, the inflection of only the last item may sometimes be, at least marginally, acceptable ("you and your spouse's bank account").<ref name="Cambridge Grammar: Coordination and genitives" /><ref name="Comprehensive Grammar: Coordination of genitives" /> The inflection of both is normally preferred (e.g. Jack's and your dogs), but there is a tendency to avoid this construction, too, in favour of a construction that does not use a coordinate possessive (e.g. by using "Jack's letters and yours").<ref name="Cambridge Grammar: Coordination and genitives" /> Where a construction like "Jack's and your dogs" is used, the interpretation is usually "segregatory" (i.e. not joint possession).<ref name="Comprehensive Grammar: Coordination of genitives" />

===== With other punctuation; compounds with pronouns =====
If the word or compound includes, or ends with, a punctuation mark, an apostrophe and an {{angbr|s}} are still added in the usual way: "[[Westward Ho!]]'s railway station"; "''Awaye!''{{'}}s Paulette Whitten recorded Bob Wilson's story";<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/rn/awaye/index/subjects_Music_2007.htm |title=''Awaye!'' |website=abc.net.au }}{{dead link|date=May 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=[[The Chicago Manual of Style]] |chapter=§7.18}}</ref> ''Washington, D.C.'s museums''.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Gregg Reference Manual |edition=10th |date=2005 |chapter=paragraph 641}}</ref> (assuming that the prevailing style requires full stops in ''D.C.'').
* If the word or compound already includes a possessive apostrophe, a double possessive results: ''Tom's sisters' careers''; ''the head of marketing's husband's preference''; ''the [[Fox hunting|master of foxhounds']] best dog's death''. Many style guides, while allowing that these constructions are possible, advise rephrasing: ''the head of marketing's husband prefers that&nbsp;...''. If an original apostrophe or apostrophe with {{angbr|s}}occurs at the end, it is left by itself to serve both purposes: ''Our employees are better paid than McDonald's employees''; ''Standard & Poor's indices are widely used'': the fixed forms of ''[[McDonald's]]'' and ''[[Standard & Poor's]]'' already include possessive apostrophes. For similar cases involving geographical names, see [[#Possessives in geographic names|below]].
* Similarly, the possessives of all phrases whose wording is fixed are formed in the same way:
** "[[Us and Them (song)|Us and Them]]{{" '}}s inclusion on the album ''[[The Dark Side of the Moon]]''
** [[You Am I]]'s latest CD
** [[The 69'ers]]' drummer, Tom Callaghan (only the second apostrophe is possessive)
** ''[[His 'n' Hers]]''{{'s}} first track is called "Joyriders".{{NoteTag|This is standard even though the possessive word ''hers'' is usually spelled without an apostrophe.<!-- See below in this section -->}}
** Was ''[[She (novel)|She]]''{{'s}} success greater, or ''[[King Solomon's Mines]]''{{'s}}?{{NoteTag|Most sources are against continuing the [[italics]] used in such titles to the apostrophe and the {{angbr|s}}.}}
:For complications with foreign phrases and titles, see [[#Nouns ending with silent s, x, or z|below]].

===== Time, money, and similar =====
An apostrophe is used in time and money references in constructions such as ''one hour's respite'', ''two weeks' holiday'', ''a dollar's worth'', ''five pounds' worth'', ''one mile's drive from here''. This is like an ordinary possessive use. For example, ''one hour's respite'' means ''a respite of one hour'' (exactly as ''the cat's whiskers'' means ''the whiskers of the cat'').

===== Possessive pronouns and adjectives =====
No apostrophe is used in the following possessive pronouns and adjectives: ''hers'', ''his'', ''its'', ''my'', ''mine'', ''ours'', ''theirs'', ''whose'', and ''yours''. All other possessive pronouns do end with an apostrophe and an {{angbr|s}}. In singular forms, the apostrophe comes first, e.g. ''one's''; ''everyone's''; ''somebody's'', ''nobody else's'', etc., while the apostrophe follows the {{angbr|s}} in plural forms as with nouns: ''the others' complaints''. The possessive of ''it'' was originally ''it's'', in contrast to the modern ''its''. The apostrophe was dropped by the early 19th century. Authorities are now unanimous that ''[[it's]]'' can be only a contraction of ''it is'' or ''it has''.<ref>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=its its] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606143303/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=its |date=6 June 2011}}. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved on 7 April 2013.</ref>{{NoteTag|See for example ''[[New Hart's Rules]]''. Not one of the other sources listed on this page supports the use of ''it's'' as a possessive form of ''it''.}} Despite this, using ''it's'' as a possessive pronoun is a common [[grammatical error]] in present times.

===== Importance for disambiguation =====
Each of these four phrases (listed in [[Steven Pinker]]'s ''[[The Language Instinct]]'') has a distinct meaning:
* My sister's friend's investment ''(the investment belonging to a friend of my sister)''
* My sister's friends' investment ''(the investment belonging to several friends of my sister)''
* My sisters' friend's investment ''(the investment belonging to a friend of several of my sisters)''
* My sisters' friends' investment ''(the investment belonging to several friends of several of my sisters)''

[[Kingsley Amis]], on being challenged to produce a sentence whose meaning depended on a possessive apostrophe, came up with:
* Those things over there are my husband's. (''Those things over there belong to my husband.'')
* Those things over there are my husbands'. (''Those things over there belong to several husbands of mine.'')
* Those things over there are my husbands. (''I'm married to those men over there.'')<ref>Fynes, Jane. (26 April 2007) [http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21619016-27197,00.html Courier Mail, Little things that matter] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120904080438/http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,21619016-27197,00.html |date=4 September 2012}}. News.com.au. Retrieved on 7 April 2013.</ref>

==== <span class="anchor" id="Singular nouns ending with an &quot;s&quot; or &quot;z&quot; sound"></span><span class="anchor" id="Singular nouns ending with an s or z sound"></span> Singular nouns ending with an ⟨s⟩ or ⟨z⟩ sound ====
Some singular nouns are pronounced with a [[sibilant]] sound at the end: {{IPA|/s/}} or {{IPA|/z/}}. The spelling of these ends with ''-s'', ''-se'', ''-z'', ''-ze'', ''-ce'', ''-x'', or ''-xe''. Most respected authorities recommend that practically all singular nouns, including those ending with a sibilant sound, have possessive forms with an extra {{angbr|s}} after the apostrophe so that the spelling reflects the underlying pronunciation. Examples include [[Oxford University Press]], the [[MLA style manual|Modern Language Association]], the [[BBC]] and ''[[The Economist]]''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100730034736/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/punctuationapostrophe ''OxfordDictionaries.com'']: "With personal names that end in ''-s'': add an apostrophe plus {{angbr|s}} when you would naturally pronounce an extra {{angbr|s}} if you said the word out loud"; ''MLA Style Manual'', 2nd edition, 1998, §3.4.7e: "To form the possessive of any singular proper noun, add an apostrophe and an {{angbr|s}}" [https://web.archive.org/web/20110818072435/http://www.bbc.co.uk/journalism/apps/tutor/html/apostrophes/Content.html ''BBC Academy'']: "Grammarians (such as Hart, Fowler, Swan and Lynne Truss) and other authorities, such as the style guides for ''The Guardian'' and ''The Economist'', agree that the ''-{{'s}}'' form should follow all singular nouns, regardless of whether they end in an ''-s'' or not." (see also [http://www.economist.com/research/styleGuide/index.cfm?page=841359 "''The Economist'' Style Guide""] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060503152317/http://economist.com/research/styleGuide/index.cfm?page=841359 |date=3 May 2006}}; ''[[The Elements of Style]]'' makes the same rule, with only sketchily presented exceptions.</ref> Such authorities demand possessive singulars like these: ''[[Bridget Jones's Diary]]''; ''Tony Adams's friend; my boss's job; the US's economy''. Rules that modify or extend the standard principle have included the following:
* If the singular possessive is difficult or awkward to pronounce with an added sibilant, do not add an extra {{angbr|s}}; these exceptions are supported by the ''[[Yahoo!]] Style Guide'',<ref>[http://styleguide.yahoo.com/editing/punctuate-proficiently/apostrophes Yahoo Style Guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130311225757/http://styleguide.yahoo.com/editing/punctuate-proficiently/apostrophes |date=11 March 2013}}: "For most singular nouns, add an apostrophe and an {{angbr|s}} (''{{'s}}'') to the end of the word... For names that end with an ''eez'' sound, use an apostrophe alone to form the possessive. Examples: ''Ramses' wife'', ''Hercules' muscles'', ''According to Jones's review, the computer's graphics card is its Achilles' heel''.</ref> and ''[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language|The American Heritage]] Book of English Usage''.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20050208103319/http://www.bartleby.com/64/82.html The American Heritage Book of English Usage. 8. Word Formation b. Forming Possessives]. bartleby.com</ref> Such sources permit possessive singulars like these: ''Socrates' later suggestion''; or ''Achilles' heel'' if that is how the pronunciation is intended. The style guides of ''[[The Economist]]''<ref>{{cite book |title=Economist Style Guide |publisher=[[The Economist]] / London Profile |location=London |date=2012 |series="Economist Books" series |isbn=9781846686061 |chapter=Punctuation}}</ref> and ''[[The Guardian]]''<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-a Style Guide] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230617072141/https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-a |date=17 June 2023}}. The Guardian.</ref> omit the extra s in this case.
* Some style guides advise that Classical, biblical, and similar names ending in a sibilant, especially if they are [[polysyllabic]], should not take an added {{angbr|s}} in the possessive; among sources giving exceptions of this kind are ''[[The Times]]''<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070310233042/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tools_and_services/specials/style_guide/article986718.ece Online Style Guide – A]. The Times Online (16 December 2005).</ref> and ''The Elements of Style'', which make general stipulations, and [[Vanderbilt University]],<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20100217012929/http://www.vanderbilt.edu/styleguide.pdf "Vanderbilt University Style Guide"].</ref> which mentions only ''[[Moses]]'' and ''Jesus''. As a particular case, ''Jesus{{'}}''&nbsp;– referred to as "an accepted liturgical archaism" in ''[[Hart's Rules]]''&nbsp;– is commonly written instead of ''Jesus's''.
* There are also some entrenched uses, for example ''[[St James's Park]]'' (in London); however, the Newcastle stadium displays its name spelled ''[[St James' Park]]''), ''[[St James's Palace]]'', and ''the [[Court of St James's]]'', ''[[St. James's Hospital]]'' (in Dublin), [[King James's School, Knaresborough|''King James's School'', Knaresborough]] and [[King James's School, Almondbury|''King James's School'', Almondbury]], but there is no genitive at all in [[St James Park (Exeter)|''St James Park'' (Exeter)]] or [[St. James Park (Bronx)|''St. James Park'' (Bronx)]]; nor is there one in ''the [[King James Bible]]'' since, like the ''[[Hebrew Bible]]'', it is a description and not a possessive.

Although less common, some contemporary writers still follow the older practice of omitting the second ''{{'}}s'' in some cases ending with a sibilant, but usually not when written ''-x'' or ''-xe''.<ref>According to this older system, possessives of names ending in "-x" or "-xe" were usually spelled without a final {{angbr|s}} even when an /s/ or /z/ was pronounced at the end (e.g. "Alex' brother" instead of "Alex's brother"), but the possessives of nouns (e.g. "the fox's fur") were usually spelled as today with a final {{angbr|s}}.</ref> The Associated Press Stylebook<ref>[http://www.calstate.edu/brand/styleguide/punctuation.shtml Punctuation |Style Guide |CSU Branding Standards Guide |CSU] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130703081324/http://www.calstate.edu/brand/styleguide/punctuation.shtml |date=3 July 2013}}. Calstate.edu. Retrieved on 7 April 2013.</ref> recommends or allows the practice of omitting the additional {{angbr|s}} in [[proper noun]]s ending with an {{angbr|s}}, but not in words ending with other sibilants ({{angbr|z}} and {{angbr|x}}).<ref>''The Chicago Manual of Style''{{'s}} text: 7.23 ''An alternative practice.'' Those uncomfortable with the rules, exceptions, and the outlined options may prefer the system, formerly more common, of simply omitting the possessive {{angbr|s}} on all words ending in s&nbsp;– hence "Dylan Thomas' poetry", "Maria Callas' singing", and "that business' main concern". Although it is easy to apply, that usage disregards pronunciation and thus seems unnatural to many.</ref> The ''[[The Chicago Manual of Style]]'', in its 15th edition, recommended the traditional practice, which included providing for several exceptions to accommodate spoken usage such as the omission of the extra {{angbr|s}} after a polysyllabic word ending in a sibilant, but as of the 16th edition no longer recommends omitting the possessive {{angbr|s}}.<ref>[http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/PossessivesandAttributives/PossessivesandAttributives01.html Chicago Style Q&A: Possessives and Attributives] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210072222/http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/CMS_FAQ/PossessivesandAttributives/PossessivesandAttributives01.html |date=10 December 2011}}. Chicagomanualofstyle.org. Retrieved on 7 April 2013.</ref>

Similar examples of notable names ending in an {{angbr|s}} that are often given a possessive apostrophe with no additional {{angbr|s}} include ''Dickens'' and ''Williams''. There is often a policy of leaving off the additional {{angbr|s}} on any such name, but this can prove problematic when specific names are contradictory (for example, ''[[St James' Park]]'' in [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] [the football ground] and the area of ''[[St James's Park]]'' in London); however, debate has been going on regarding the punctuation of St James' Park (Newcastle) for some time, unlike St James's Park (London) which is the less contentious version.<!-- For more details on practice with geographic names, see the relevant section [[#Possessives in geographic names|below]] -->

Some writers like to reflect standard spoken practice in cases like these with ''sake'': ''for convenience' sake'', ''for goodness' sake'', ''for appearance' sake'', ''for compromise' sake'', etc. This punctuation is preferred in major style guides. Others prefer to add ''{{'s}}'': ''for convenience's sake''.<ref>{{cite web |title=DummiesWorld Wide Words |url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-app2.htm |access-date=13 March 2007 |archive-date=3 January 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070103050710/http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-app2.htm |url-status=live}}. ''The Chicago Manual of Style'', 7.22: "For ... sake expressions traditionally omit the {{angbr|s}} when the noun ends in an {{angbr|s}} or an {{angbr|s}} sound." ''Oxford Style Manual'', 5.2.1: "Use an apostrophe alone after singular nouns ending in an {{angbr|s}} or ''z'' sound and combined with ''sake'': for goodness' sake".</ref> Still others prefer to omit the apostrophe when there is an {{angbr|s}} sound before ''sake'': ''for morality's sake'', but ''for convenience sake''.<ref>"Practice varies widely in ''for conscience' sake'' and ''for goodness' sake'', and the use of an apostrophe in them must be regarded as optional" ''The New Fowler's Modern English Usage'', ed. Burchfield, R. W., 3rd edition, 1996, entry for "sake", p.&nbsp;686, {{ISBN|0198610211}}.</ref>

==== <span class="anchor" id="Nouns ending with silent &quot;s&quot;, &quot;x&quot;, or &quot;z&quot;"></span><span class="anchor" id="Nouns ending with silent s, x, or z"></span>Nouns ending with silent ⟨s⟩, ⟨x⟩, or ⟨z⟩ ====
<!-- This Anchor tag serves to provide a permanent target for incoming section links. Please do not remove it, nor modify it, except to add another appropriate anchor. If you modify the section title, please anchor the old title. It is always best to anchor an old section header that has been changed so that links to it will not be broken. See [[Template:Anchor]] for details. This template is {{subst:Anchor comment}} -->
The English possessive of French nouns ending in a silent {{angbr|s}}, {{angbr|x}}, or {{angbr|z}} is addressed by various style guides. Certainly a sibilant is pronounced in examples like ''Descartes's'' and ''Dumas's''; the question addressed here is whether {{angbr|s}} needs to be added. Similar examples with {{angbr|x}} or {{angbr|z}}: ''{{lang|FR|[[Sauce Périgueux]]}}'s main ingredient is truffle''; ''His {{lang|FR|[[pince-nez]]}}'s loss went unnoticed''; "''Verreaux('s) eagle, a large, predominantly black eagle, ''Aquila verreauxi'',...''" ([[OED]], entry for "Verreaux", with silent {{angbr|x}}; see [[Verreaux's eagle]]); in each of these some writers might omit the added {{angbr|s}}. The same principles and residual uncertainties apply with "naturalised" English words, like ''Illinois'' and ''Arkansas''.<ref>In February 2007 Arkansas historian Parker Westbrook successfully petitioned State Representative Steve Harrelson to settle once and for all that the correct possessive should not be ''Arkansas{{'}}'' but ''Arkansas's'' ([https://archive.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/02/27/arkansas_house_to_argue_over_apostrophes/ ''Arkansas House to argue over apostrophes''] ). Arkansas's Apostrophe Act came into law in March 2007 (ABC News [USA], 6 March 2007).</ref>

For possessive ''plurals'' of words ending in a silent {{angbr|x}}, {{angbr|z}} or {{angbr|s}}, the few authorities that address the issue at all typically call for an added {{angbr|s}} and suggest that the apostrophe precede the {{angbr|s}}: ''The Loucheux's homeland is in the Yukon''; ''Compare the two Dumas's literary achievements''.{{NoteTag|1= An apparent exception is ''The Complete Stylist'', Sheridan Baker, 2nd edition 1972, p.&nbsp;165: "''... citizens' rights'', ''the Joneses' possessions'', and similarly ''The Beaux' Stratagem''." But in fact the ''x'' in ''beaux'', as in other such plurals in English, is often already pronounced<!-- See a note to [[#Basic rule (plural nouns)]] above -->; ''[[The Beaux Stratagem]]'', the title of a play by George Farquhar (1707), originally lacked the apostrophe (see [https://archive.org/details/beauxstratagema01farqgoog the title page] of a 1752 edition); and it is complicated by the following {{angbr|s}} in ''stratagem''. Some modern editions add the apostrophe (some with an {{angbr|s}} also), some omit it; and some make a compound with a hyphen: ''The Beaux-Stratagem''. Farquhar himself used the apostrophe elsewhere in the standard ways, for both omission and possession.}} The possessive of a cited French title with a silent plural ending is uncertain: "{{lang|FR|Trois femmes}}'s long and complicated publication history",<ref>Jacqueline Letzter (1998) ''Intellectual Tacking: Questions of Education in the Works of Isabelle de Charrière'', Rodopi, p.&nbsp;123, {{ISBN|9042002905}}.</ref> but "{{lang|FR|[[Les noces]]}}{{'}} singular effect was 'exotic primitive' ..." (with nearby sibilants ''-ce-'' in ''noces'' and ''s-'' in ''singular'').<ref>Elizabeth A. McAlister (2002) ''Rara!: Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and Its Diaspora'', University of California Press, p.&nbsp;196, {{ISBN|0520228227}}.</ref><!-- Compare treatment of other titles, [[#With other punctuation; compounds with pronouns]] --> Guides typically seek a principle that will yield uniformity, even for foreign words that fit awkwardly with standard English punctuation.

==== Possessives in geographic names ====
<!-- This section is linked from Apostrophe -->
Place names in the United States do not use the possessive apostrophe on federal maps and signs.<ref name="TimesGeo">{{cite news |title=Apostrophe Cops: Don't Be So Possessive |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/10/magazine/sunday-march-10-1996-apostrophe-cops-don-t-be-so-possessive.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] (Sunday Magazine) |date=10 March 1996 |access-date=14 February 2017 |archive-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817173959/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/10/magazine/sunday-march-10-1996-apostrophe-cops-don-t-be-so-possessive.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Section 2A.08 Word Messages|url=https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/pdfs/11th_Edition/mutcd11theditionhl.pdf|work=[[Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices]]|publisher=[[United States Department of Transportation]]|edition=11th|page=45|date=2023|access-date=24 September 2025|quote=Guidance:...Word messages should not contain periods, apostrophes, question marks, ampersands, or other punctuation or characters that are not letters, numerals, or hyphens unless necessary to avoid confusion.}}</ref> The [[United States Board on Geographic Names]], which has responsibility for formal naming of municipalities and geographic features, has deprecated the use of possessive apostrophes since 1890 so as not to show ownership of the place.<ref name="TimesGeo" /><ref name="TheBoard" /> Only five names of natural features in the US are officially spelled with a genitive apostrophe: [[Martha's Vineyard]]; [[Ike's Point]], New Jersey; [[John E's Pond]], Rhode Island; [[Carlos Elmer|Carlos Elmer's Joshua View]], Arizona; and [[Clark's Mountain]], Oregon.<ref name="TheBoard">[https://www.usgs.gov/us-board-on-geographic-names/how-do-i How Do I? |US Geological Survey] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328054944/https://www.usgs.gov/us-board-on-geographic-names/how-do-i |date=28 March 2023}}. usgs.gov. Retrieved on 31 March 2023.</ref><ref>Cavella, C, and Kernodle, RA, [https://web.archive.org/web/20070614121856/http://www.american.edu/tesol/wpkernodlecavella.pdf How the Past Affects the Future: the Story of the Apostrophe]. american.edu</ref> Some municipalities, originally incorporated using the apostrophe, have dropped it in accordance with this policy; [[Taylors Falls]] in Minnesota, for example, was originally incorporated as "Taylor's Falls".<ref>{{cite book |volume=17 |title=Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance |last=Upham |first=Warren |date=1920 |chapter=Taylor's Falls |page=110 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ShcLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA110}}</ref> On the state level, the federal policy is not always followed: [[Vermont]]'s official state website has a page on [[Camel's Hump State Forest]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fpr.vermont.gov/camels-hump-state-forest-0|title=Camel's Hump State Forest|date=2020|agency=Agency of Natural Resources|department=Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation|website=Vermont Official State Website|access-date=24 July 2020|archive-date=13 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913192348/https://fpr.vermont.gov/camels-hump-state-forest-0|url-status=live}}</ref>

Australia's [[Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping]] also has a no-apostrophe policy, a practice it says goes back to the 1900s<ref>{{cite web |publisher=[[Intergovernmental Committee on Surveying and Mapping]] |url=http://www.icsm.gov.au/cgna/consistent_place_names_guidelines.pdf |title=Guidelines for the Consistent Use of Place Names |date=April 2012 |access-date=27 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409225240/http://www.icsm.gov.au/cgna/consistent_place_names_guidelines.pdf |archive-date=9 April 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and which is generally followed around the country.<ref>"The apostrophe has been dropped from most Australian place-names and street names: ''Connells Point''; ''Wilsons Promontory''; ''Browns Lane''." ''The Penguin Working Words: an Australian Guide to Modern English Usage'', Penguin, 1993, p.&nbsp;41.</ref> On the other hand, the United Kingdom has [[Bishop's Stortford]], [[Bishop's Castle]] and [[King's Lynn]] (among many others) but [[St Albans]], [[St Andrews]] and [[St Helens, Merseyside|St Helens]]. London Underground's Piccadilly line has the adjacent stations of [[Earl's Court tube station|Earl's Court]] in [[Earl's Court]] and [[Barons Court tube station|Barons Court]]. These names were mainly fixed in form many years before grammatical rules were fully standardised. While [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]] play [[association football|football]] at a stadium called [[St James' Park]], and [[Exeter City]] at [[St James Park, Exeter|St James Park]], London has a [[St James's Park]] (this whole area of London is named after the parish of [[St James's Church, Piccadilly]]).<ref>[http://www.st-james-piccadilly.org/ St James's Church Piccadilly website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429004322/http://www.st-james-piccadilly.org/ |date=29 April 2011}}. St-james-piccadilly.org. Retrieved on 7 April 2013.</ref> Modern usage has been influenced by considerations of technological convenience including the economy of typewriter ribbons and films, and similar computer character "disallowance" which tend to ignore past standards.<ref>E.g., under [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909264 Naming conventions in Active Directory for computers, domains, sites, and OUs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726165249/http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909264 |date=26 July 2011}} at Microsoft Support</ref> Practice in the United Kingdom and Canada is not so uniform.<ref>''The Cambridge Guide to English Usage'', Ed. Peters, P, 2004, p.&nbsp;43.</ref>

==== Possessives in names of organizations ====
Sometimes the apostrophe is omitted in the names of clubs, societies, and other organizations, even though the standard principles seem to require it: ''[[Country Women's Association]]'', but ''International Aviation {{sic|Wom|ens|hide=yes}} Association'';<ref>[http://www.iawa.org/ International Aviation {{sic|Wom|ens|hide=yes}} Association] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425083405/http://www.iawa.org/ |date=25 April 2012}}. IAWA.org. Retrieved on 7 April 2013.</ref> ''[[Magistrates' Court of Victoria]]'',<ref>Spelled both with and without the apostrophe at [http://www.magistratescourt.vic.gov.au/ the court's own home page] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513164253/http://www.magistratescourt.vic.gov.au/ |date=13 May 2012}}; but spelled with the apostrophe in Victorian legislation, such as [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/mca1989214/ Magistrates' Court Act, 1989] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206103610/http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/mca1989214/ |date=6 December 2008}}.</ref> but ''[[Federated Ship Painters and Dockers Union]]''. Usage is variable and inconsistent. Style guides typically advise consulting an official source for the standard form of the name (as one would do if uncertain about other aspects of the spelling of the name); some tend towards greater prescriptiveness, for or against such an apostrophe.{{NoteTag|''Gregg Reference Manual'', 10th edition, 2003, distinguishes between what it calls ''possessive'' and ''descriptive'' forms, and uses this distinction in analyzing the problem. From paragraph&nbsp;628: "a.&nbsp;Do not mistake a descriptive form ending in {{angbr|s}} for a possessive form[:] sales effort (sales describes the kind of effort)... b.&nbsp;Some cases can be difficult to distinguish. Is it ''the girls basketball team'' or ''the girls' basketball team?'' Try substituting an irregular plural like ''women''. You would not say ''the women basketball team''; you would say ''the women's basketball team''. By analogy, ''the girls' basketball team'' is correct" [italics given exactly as in original, including following punctuation]. In this case, the phrase in question is not part of the name and the words are not capitalised, and then this principle is applied to organizations at paragraph&nbsp;640, where examples are given, including the non-conforming ''Childrens Hospital, (in Los Angeles)'': "The names of many organizations, products, and publications contain words that could be considered either possessive or descriptive terms... c. In all cases follow the organization's preference when known."}} As the case of ''{{sic|wom|ens|hide=yes}}'' shows, it is not possible to analyze these forms simply as non-possessive plurals, since ''women'' is the only correct plural form of ''woman''.

==== Possessives in business names ====
{{See also|S-form}}
Where a business name is based on a family name it should in theory take an apostrophe, but many leave it out (contrast ''[[Sainsbury's]]'' with ''[[Harrods]]''). In recent times there has been an increasing tendency to drop the apostrophe. Names based on a first name are more likely to take an apostrophe, but this is not always the case. Some business names may inadvertently spell a different name if the name with an {{angbr|s}} at the end is also a name, such as Parson. A small activist group called the [[Apostrophe Protection Society]], with "the specific aim of preserving the correct use of this currently much abused punctuation mark" across the English-speaking world,<ref>[http://www.apostrophe.org.uk/ Apostrophe Protection Society's website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090117000935/http://apostrophe.org.uk/ |date=17 January 2009}}. Apostrophe.org.uk (12 February 2013). Retrieved on 7 April 2013.</ref> has campaigned for large retailers such as Harrods, [[Currys]], and [[Selfridges]] to reinstate their missing punctuation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Harrods told to put its apostrophe back |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/harrods-told-to-put-its-apostrophe-back-g7v7ckndx8v |access-date=1 December 2019 |work=The Sunday Times |date=21 August 2006}}</ref> A spokesperson for [[Barclays PLC]] stated, "It has just disappeared over the years. Barclays is no longer associated with the family name."<ref name="Times">[https://web.archive.org/web/20070311032847/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article614843.ece Harrods told to put its apostrophe back]. Times Online (21 August 2006).</ref> Further confusion can be caused by businesses whose names look as if they should be pronounced differently without an apostrophe, such as Paulos Circus, and other companies that leave the apostrophe out of their logos but include it in written text, such as [[Cadwalader's]].

=== Apostrophe showing omission ===
An apostrophe is commonly used to indicate omitted characters, normally letters:
* It is used in [[contraction (grammar)|contractions]], such as ''can't'' from ''cannot'', ''it's'' from ''it is'' or ''it has'', and ''I'll'' from ''I will'' or ''I shall''.<ref>In reports of very informal speech ''{{'s}}'' may sometimes represent ''does'': "Where's that come from?"</ref>
* It is used in [[abbreviation]]s, as ''gov't'' for ''government''. It may indicate omitted numbers where the spoken form is also capable of omissions, as ''{{'}}70s'' for ''1970s'' representing ''seventies'' for ''nineteen-seventies''. In modern usage, apostrophes are generally omitted when letters are removed from the start of a word, particularly for a [[compound word]]. For example, it is not common to write ''{{'}}bus'' (for ''omnibus''), ''{{'}}phone'' (''telephone''), ''{{'}}net'' (''Internet''); however, if the shortening is unusual, dialectal or archaic, the apostrophe may still be used to mark it (e.g., ''{{'}}bout'' for ''about'', ''{{'}}less'' for ''unless'', ''{{'}}twas'' for ''it was''). Sometimes a misunderstanding of the original form of a word results in a non-standard contraction. A common example: ''{{'}}til'' for ''until'', although ''till'' is in fact the original form, and ''until'' is derived from it.
** The spelling ''fo'c's'le'', contracted from the nautical term ''forecastle'', is unusual for having three apostrophes. The spelling ''bo's'n's'' (from ''boatswain's''), as in ''Bo's'n's Mate'', also has three apostrophes, two showing omission and one possession. ''Fo'c's'le'' may also take a possessive ''s''&nbsp;– as in ''the fo'c's'le's timbers''&nbsp;– giving four apostrophes in one word.<ref>[[SOED]] gives ''fo'c's'le'' as the only shortened form of ''forecastle'', although others are shown in [[OED]]. SOED gives ''bo's'n'' as one spelling of ''bosun'', itself a variant of ''boatswain''.</ref> A word which formerly contained two apostrophes is ''sha'n't ''for ''shall not'', examples of which may be found in the older works of [[P. G. Wodehouse]] and "Frank Richards" ([[Charles Hamilton (writer)|Charles Hamilton]]), but this has been superseded by ''shan't''.
** Shortenings with more apostrophes, such as ''y'all'dn't've'' ([[y'all]] wouldn't have), are possible, particularly in [[Southern American English|Southern US dialects]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Can You Have Multiple Contractions in the Same Word? (Video) |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/video/contractions-with-more-than-two-or-three-words-triple-contractions |website=merriam-webster.com |access-date=17 April 2019 |archive-date=15 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415180746/https://www.merriam-webster.com/video/contractions-with-more-than-two-or-three-words-triple-contractions |url-status=live}}</ref>
* It is sometimes used when the normal form of an inflection seems awkward or unnatural; for example, ''KO'd'' rather than ''KOed'' (where ''KO'' is used as a verb meaning "to knock out"); "''a spare [[pince-nez]]'d man''" (cited in [[OED]], entry for "pince-nez"; ''pince-nezed'' is also in citations).
* An apostrophe's function as possessive or contractive can depend on the grammatical context:
** We rehearsed for Friday's opening night. (''We rehearsed for the opening night on Friday.'')
** We rehearsed because Friday's opening night. (''We rehearsed because Friday is opening night.'' "Friday's" here is a contraction of "Friday is".)
* [[Eye dialect]]s use apostrophes in creating the effect of a non-standard pronunciation.
* Apostrophes to omit letters in place names are common on British road signs when space does not allow for the full name{{snd}} for example, [[Wolverhampton]] abbreviated as "W'hampton" and [[Kidderminster]] as "K'minster".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5285894,-2.3816704,3a,75y,283.86h,85.53t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1stlcDS82yOTOXHKVwGQdc6g!2e0 |title=Sign on the A458 |work=Google Maps, street view |access-date=20 August 2020 |archive-date=26 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200726124416/https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5285894,-2.3816704,3a,75y,283.86h,85.53t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1stlcDS82yOTOXHKVwGQdc6g!2e0 |url-status=live}}</ref>
* The [[United States Board on Geographic Names]], while discouraging possessive apostrophes in place names, allows apostrophes indicating omission, as in "Lake O' the Woods", or when normally present in a surname, as in "O'Malley Draw".<ref>{{Citation |title=Principles, Policies, and Procedures: Domestic Geographic Names |publisher=U.S. Board on Geographic Names |date=December 2016 |url=https://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/pubs/DNC_PPP_DEC_2016_V.2.0.pdf |access-date=2 April 2020 |archive-date=4 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804192010/https://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/pubs/DNC_PPP_DEC_2016_V.2.0.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Use in forming some plurals ===
[[File:Oakland A's logo.svg|thumb|right|upright|An apostrophe can be used in the plural form of a single letter, as seen in the team logo of the [[Oakland Athletics|Oakland A's]].]]
Following an evolution in usage in the 20th century, today "the apostrophe of plurality continues in at least five areas":<ref name="OxComp18" /> abbreviations, letters of the alphabet/small words, numbers, family names, and in [[nonstandard dialect|non-standard]] use.

==== Abbreviations ====
For abbreviations, including acronyms, the use of ''s'' without an apostrophe is now more common than its use with an apostrophe. Most modern style guides disparage the use of apostrophes in all plural abbreviations. Some references continue to condone their use, or even recommend their use in some abbreviations. For example, ''The Canadian Style'' states "Add an&nbsp;apostrophe&nbsp;and&nbsp;''s''&nbsp;to form the plural of abbreviations containing more than one period", so ''G.M.'s'' is preferred to ''G.M.s''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tcdnstyl-chap?lang=eng&lettr=chapsect1&info0=1.04#zz1 |title=The Canadian Style |publisher=[[Public Works and Government Services Canada]] |date=8 October 2009 |access-date=3 November 2021 |archive-date=1 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201080431/https://www.btb.termiumplus.gc.ca/tcdnstyl-chap?lang=eng&lettr=chapsect1&info0=1.04#zz1 |url-status=live}}.</ref> The ''[[Oxford Companion]] to the English Language'' condones ''[[Very important person|V.I.P.'s]]'', ''VIP's'', and ''VIPs'' equally.<ref name="OxComp18" />

==== Letters of the alphabet, and small words ====
For single lowercase letters, pluralization with ''{{'s}}'' is usual.<ref name="MW apostrophe">{{cite book |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877796336/page/79 79] |title=Merriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage |date=2002 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780877796336 |quote=Letters are usually pluralized with ''{{'s}}'': ''mind your p's and q's'' although capital letters are sometimes pluralized with ''s'' alone. The use of ''{{'s}}'' to form the plurals of numerals, abbreviations, and symbols is not now as common as pluralization with simple ''s''; 1970s, CPUs, &s are more likely to be found than the apostrophied counterparts. |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780877796336/page/79}}</ref><ref name="Garner apostrophe">{{cite book |last1=Garner |first1=Bryan A. |author-link1=Bryan A. Garner |title=Garner's ModernEnglish Usage |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780190491482 |quote=[The apostrophe] is sometimes used to mark the plural of an acronym, initialism, number, or letter—e.g.: ''CPA's'' (now more usually ''CPAs''), 1990's (now more usually ''1990s''), and ''p's and q's'' (still with apostrophes because of the single letters).}}</ref><ref name="Huddleston apostrophe">{{cite book |pages=1586–7|last1=Huddleston |first1=Rodney |author-link1=Rodney Huddleston|last2= Pullum |first2= Geoffrey |author-link2=Geoffrey Pullum|title=The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language |date=2002 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=0521431468 |quote=An apostrophe may be used to separate the plural suffix from the base with letters, numbers (notably dates), symbols, abbreviations, and words used metalinguistically ... This practice is less common than it used to be; with dates and abbreviations ending with an upper case letter, the form without the apostrophe is now more usual ...}}</ref> Many guides recommend apostrophes whether the single letters are lowercase (as in "[[Mind your Ps and Qs|minding your p's and q's]]") or uppercase (as in "A's and S's").<ref name="Hart apostrophe">{{cite book |quote=In plural forms of a single letter an apostrophe can sometimes be clearer ... A's and S's ... minding your p's and q's ... |page=182 |title=New Hart's Rules: The Oxford Style Guide |edition=2nd |date=2014 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199570027}}</ref> ''[[The Chicago Manual of Style]]'' recommends the apostrophe of plurality only for lowercase letters.<ref>{{cite book |quote=To aid comprehension, lowercase letters form the plural with an apostrophe and an ''s''. ... the three Rs ... x's and y's |title=The Chicago Manual of Style |publisher=University of Chicago Press |date=2010 |isbn=9780226104201 |edition=16th |page=353}}</ref> Sometimes, adding just ''s'' rather than ''{{'s}}'' may leave meaning ambiguous or presentation inelegant; however, an apostrophe is not always the preferred solution.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.apostrophe.org.uk/page4.html |title=Frequently Asked Questions |website=The Apostrophe Protection Society |access-date=2 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191201114812/https://www.apostrophe.org.uk/page4.html |archive-date=1 December 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref> [[APA style]] requires the use of italics instead of an apostrophe: ''p''s, ''n''s, etc.<ref>{{cite book |title=Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association |publisher=American Psychological Association |edition=6th |date=2010 |location=Washington, DC |pages=110 |isbn=9781433805615 |url=https://archive.org/details/publicationmanua00ame_451}}</ref> In the phrase ''dos and don'ts'', most modern style guides disparage spelling the first word as ''do's''; however, there is a lack of consensus and certainly the use of an apostrophe continues, legitimately, in which "the apostrophe of plurality occurs in the first word but not the second".<ref name="OxComp18" />

==== Numbers and symbols ====
The ''[[Oxford Companion]] to the English Language'' notes that "a plural ''s'' after a set of numbers is often preceded by an apostrophe, as in ''3's and 4's''..., but many housestyles and individuals now favour ''3s and 4s''".<ref name="OxComp18" /> Most style guides prefer the lack of apostrophe for groups of years (e.g. ''1980s'')<ref name="owl">{{cite web |title=Purdue University Online Writing Lab: The Apostrophe |url=https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/apostrophe_introduction.html |access-date=26 November 2018 |archive-date=19 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119195050/https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/punctuation/apostrophe_introduction.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and will prefer ''90s'' or ''{{'}}90s'' over ''90{{'s}}'' or ''{{'}}90's''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/PossessivesandAttributives/faq0002.html |title=The Chicago Manual of Style |edition=17th |website=The Chicago Manual of Style Online |access-date=16 February 2018 |archive-date=16 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216144034/http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/PossessivesandAttributives/faq0002.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="blog.apastyle.org2">{{Cite web |url=http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2013/11/pluralize-numbers-and-abbreviations-without-apostrophes.html |title=APA Style Blog: Pluralize Numbers and Abbreviations Without Apostrophes |website=blog.apastyle.org |access-date=16 February 2018 |archive-date=16 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216204335/http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2013/11/pluralize-numbers-and-abbreviations-without-apostrophes.html |url-status=live}}</ref> While many guides discourage using an apostrophe in all numbers/dates,<ref>{{Cite book |title=Chicago Manual of Style |publisher=University of Chicago |edition=17th |chapter=9.54}}</ref> many other guides ''encourage'' using an apostrophe for numbers or are divided on the issue; for example, the ''Australian Government Style Manual'' recommends "Binary code uses 0's and 1's" but recommends "the 2020s".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/apostrophes |title=The Australian Government Style Manual |access-date=3 November 2021 |archive-date=3 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211103032126/https://www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punctuation-and-conventions/punctuation/apostrophes |url-status=live}}</ref> Still other guides take a laissez-faire approach. For example, the University of Sussex's online guide notes regional variation in the use of apostrophes in dates,<ref name="susx2">[http://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/apostrophe/plurals Guide to Punctuation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150220141552/http://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/punctuation/apostrophe/plurals |date=20 February 2015}}, Larry Trask, University of Sussex: "American usage, however, does put an apostrophe here: (A) This research was carried out in 1970's."</ref> and slightly prefers ''1's and 7's'' over ''1s and 7s'' but condones both.

The apostrophe is very often used in plurals of symbols, for example "that page has too many &'s and #'s on it". Some style guides state that the apostrophe is unnecessary since there is no ambiguity but that some editors and teachers prefer this usage.<ref name="owl" /> The addition of an ''s'' without an apostrophe may make the text difficult to read.<ref name="susx2" /> For many numbers and symbols, a useful alternative is to write out the numbers as words (e.g. ''thousands'' instead of ''1000s'' or ''1000's'', and ''ampersands'' instead of ''&s'' or ''&'s'').

==== Family names ====
The vast majority of English references published from the late 20th century onwards disparage the use of apostrophes in family-name plurals, for example identifying ''Joneses'' as correct and ''Jones's'' as incorrect. As an exception, the ''[[Oxford Companion]] to the English Language'' (2018) reports that, in addition to ''Joneses'' etc., standard apostrophe usage does continue "in family names, especially if they end in ''-s'', as in ''[[Keeping up with the Joneses|keeping up with the Jones's]]''".<ref name="OxComp18" />

==== Nonstandard use ====
See {{section link||Superfluous apostrophes ("greengrocers' apostrophes")}}, below.

=== Use in non-English names ===
Names that are not strictly native to English sometimes have an apostrophe substituted to represent other characters (see also [[#As a mark of elision|As a mark of elision]], below).
* Anglicised versions of [[Irish surnames]] typically contain an apostrophe after an ''O'' (in place of [[Ó#Irish|Ó]]), for example "[[Dara Ó Briain|Dara O'Briain]]" for {{lang|ga|Dara Ó{{nbsp}}Briain}}.
* Some [[Scottish Gaelic name|Scottish]] and [[Irish name|Irish]] surnames use an apostrophe after an ''M'', for example ''M'Gregor''. The apostrophe here may be seen as marking a contraction where the prefix ''Mc'' or ''[[Irish surname prefixes|Mac]]'' would normally appear; however, it may also arise from a misinterpretation of printers' use of an [[inverted comma]], <span style=font-family:serif>{{char|‘}}</span> (''turned comma'' or "6-quote"), as a substitute for superscript ''c'' when printing with hand-set metal type. Compare: <span style=font-family:serif>M'Lean, M<sup>c</sup>Lean, M‘Lean</span>.<ref name="M'Culloch">{{cite web |title=M'Culloch and the Turned Comma |url=http://www.greenbag.org/v12n3/v12n3_collins.pdf |access-date=14 March 2012 |first=Michael G. |last=Collins |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924023612/http://www.greenbag.org/v12n3/v12n3_collins.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Use in transliteration ===
In [[transliteration|transliterated]] foreign words, an apostrophe may be used to separate letters or syllables that otherwise would likely be interpreted incorrectly. For example:
* in the [[Arabic (language)|Arabic]] word {{transliteration|ar|[[mus'haf]]}}, a transliteration of {{lang|ar|rtl=yes|مصحف}}, the syllables are as in ''mus·haf'', not ''mu·shaf''
* in the Japanese name ''[[Shin'ichi]]'', the apostrophe shows that the pronunciation is ''shi·n·i·chi'' ([[hiragana]] {{nihongo2|しんいち}}), where the letters ''n'' ({{nihongo2|ん}}) and ''i'' ({{nihongo2|い}}) are separate [[mora (linguistics)|morae]], rather than ''shi·ni·chi'' ({{nihongo2|しにち}}).
* in the Chinese [[Pinyin]] romanization, the apostrophe ({{char|'}}, {{linktext|隔音符號}}, géyīn fúhào, 'syllable-dividing mark') is used before a syllable starting with a vowel (''a'', ''o'', or ''e'') in a multiple-syllable word when the syllable does not start the word (which is most commonly realized as {{IPA|[ɰ]}}), unless the syllable immediately follows a [[hyphen]] or other dash.<ref name="apostrophes">{{cite web |url=http://www.pinyin.info/romanization/hanyu/apostrophes.html |title=Apostrophes in Hanyu Pinyin: When and where to use them|access-date=20 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731010900/http://www.pinyin.info/romanization/hanyu/apostrophes.html |archive-date=31 July 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> This is done to remove ambiguity that could arise, as in ''[[Xi'an]]'', which consists of the two syllables ''{{lang|zh-latn-pinyin|xi}}'' ("{{lang-zh|c=西|labels=no}}") ''{{lang|zh-latn-pinyin|an}}'' ("{{lang-zh|c=安|labels=no}}"), compared to such words as ''{{lang|zh-latn-pinyin|xian}}'' ("{{lang-zh|c=先|labels=no}}"). This ambiguity does not occur when tone marks are used. The two tone marks in ''{{lang|zh-latn-pinyin|Xīān}}'' unambiguously show that the word consists of two syllables; however, even with tone marks, the city is usually spelled with an apostrophe as ''{{lang|zh-latn-pinyin|Xī'ān}}''.
Furthermore, an apostrophe may be used to indicate a [[glottal stop]] in transliterations. For example:
* in the Arabic word {{transliteration|ar|[[Qur'an]]}}, a common transliteration of (part of) {{lang|ar|rtl=yes|القرآن}} ''al-qur'ān'', the apostrophe corresponds to the diacritic [[Arabic diacritics#Maddah|maddah]] over the {{transliteration|ar|italic=no|[['alif]]}}, one of the letters in the [[Arabic alphabet]]. An {{transliteration|ar|italic=no|[['alif]]}} by itself would indicate the long vowel {{transliteration|ar|italic=no|[[ā]]}}, and the {{transliteration|ar|italic=no|maddah}} adds a glottal stop.
Rather than {{char|ʿ}} ([[modifier letter left half ring]]), the apostrophe is sometimes used to indicate a [[voiced pharyngeal fricative]] as it sounds and looks like the glottal stop to most English speakers. For example:
* in the Arabic word {{transliteration|ar|[[Ka'aba]]}} for {{lang|ar|rtl=yes|الكعبة}} {{transliteration|ar|al-kaʿbah}}, the apostrophe corresponds to the Arabic letter {{transliteration|ar|italic=no|[[Ayin#Arabic ʿayn|ʿayn]]}}.
Finally, in "scientific" transliteration of Cyrillic script, the apostrophe usually represents the [[soft sign]] {{char|ь}}, although in "ordinary" transliteration it is usually omitted. For example,
* "The [[Ob River]] (Russian: Обь), also Ob', is a major river in western Siberia."

=== Non-standard English use ===
[[File:A Postrophe Rules - Bicycle's (sic) Will Be Removed (5598101411).jpg|thumb|upright=0.75]]
[[File:Greengrocer's apostrophe correction.jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|right|Sign at [[Leeds railway station]], England, with an {{shy|ex|tra|ne|ous apos|tro|phe}} crossed out]]
[[File:Misspelled advertising sign.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.75|Advertisement with three {{shy|super|flu|ous apostrophes}}]]

{{blockquote
| If you have a name that ends in "s," or if you will observe home-made signs selling tomatoes or chili-and-beans, you will quickly note what can be done with a possessive apostrophe in reckless hands.
| [[Algis Budrys]], 1965<ref name="budrys196512">{{Cite magazine  |last=Budrys |first=Algis |date=December 1965 |title=Galaxy Bookshelf |magazine=Galaxy Science Fiction |pages=147–156}}</ref>
}}

Failure to observe standard use of the apostrophe is widespread and frequently criticised as incorrect,<ref>Truss, p.&nbsp;41, pp.&nbsp;48–54.</ref><ref name="HoBS" /> often generating heated debate. The British founder of the [[Apostrophe Protection Society]] earned a 2001 [[Ig Nobel|Ig&nbsp;Nobel]] prize for "efforts to protect, promote and defend the differences between plural and possessive".<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/1581086.stm "In praise of apostrophes"], BBC News, 5 October 2001</ref> A 2004 report by [[OCR (examination board)|British examination board OCR]] stated that "the inaccurate use of the apostrophe is so widespread as to be almost universal".<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3979765.stm "'Fatal floors' in exam scripts"], BBC News, 3 November 2004</ref> A 2008 survey found that nearly half of the UK adults polled were unable to use the apostrophe correctly.<ref name="HoBS">[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3418036/Half-of-Britons-struggle-with-the-apostrophe.html Half of Britons struggle with the apostrophe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180419083346/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/3418036/Half-of-Britons-struggle-with-the-apostrophe.html |date=19 April 2018}}, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 11 November 2008</ref>

{{Anchor|GG}}

==== <span class="anchor" id="Greengrocers' apostrophe"></span>{{anchor|Greengrocers' apostrophes}}<span class="anchor" id="Greengrocer's apostrophe"></span> Superfluous apostrophes ("greengrocers' apostrophes") ====
Apostrophes used in a non-standard manner to form [[noun]] [[plural]]s are known as ''greengrocers' apostrophes'' or ''grocer's apostrophes''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/styleguide/a#id-3016449 |location=London |work=The Guardian |title=Style guide |date=16 December 2008 |access-date=11 December 2016 |archive-date=21 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140121123743/http://www.theguardian.com/styleguide/a#id-3016449 |url-status=live}}</ref> They are sometimes humorously called ''greengrocers apostrophe's'', ''rogue apostrophes'', or ''idiot's apostrophes'' (a literal translation of the [[German grammar#Plurals|German]] word ''Deppenapostroph'', which criticises the misapplication of apostrophes in [[Denglisch]]). The practice, once common and acceptable (see ''[[#Historical development|Historical development]]''), comes from the identical sound of the [[plural]] and [[possessive case|possessive]] forms of most English [[noun]]s. It is often criticised as a form of [[hypercorrection]] coming from a widespread ignorance of the proper use of the apostrophe or of punctuation in general. [[Lynne Truss]], author of ''[[Eats, Shoots & Leaves]]'', points out that before the 19th century it was standard orthography to use the apostrophe to form a plural of a foreign-sounding word that ended in a vowel (e.g., {{Not a typo|banana's}}, {{Not a typo|folio's}}, {{Not a typo|logo's}}, {{Not a typo|quarto's}}, {{Not a typo|pasta's}}, {{Not a typo|ouzo's}}) to clarify pronunciation. Truss says this usage is no longer considered proper in formal writing.<ref>Truss, pp.&nbsp;63–65.</ref>

The term is believed to have been coined in the middle of the 20th century by a teacher of languages working in [[Liverpool]], at a time when such mistakes were common in the handwritten signs and advertisements of [[greengrocer]]s (e.g., ''{{typo|Apple's}} [[shilling|1/-]] a pound, {{typo|Orange's}} [[£sd#Writing conventions and pronunciations|1/6]] a pound''). Some have argued that its use in mass communication by employees of well-known companies has led to the less literate assuming it to be standard and adopting the habit themselves.<ref>{{cite web |first1=Christina |last1=Cavella |first2=Robin A. |last2=Kernodle |title= How the Past Affects the Future: The Story of the Apostrophe |work=TESL 503: The Structure of English |date=Spring 2003 |publisher=American University |url= http://www.american.edu/tesol/wpkernodlecavella.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090326014513/http://www.american.edu/tesol/wpkernodlecavella.pdf |archive-date=26 March 2009 |access-date=26 October 2006}}</ref>

The same use of apostrophe before [[noun]] [[plural]] -s forms is sometimes made by non-native speakers of English. For example, in [[Dutch grammar#Plural|Dutch]], the apostrophe is inserted before the ''s'' when pluralising most words ending in a vowel or ''y'' for example, {{lang|nl|baby's}} (English ''babies'') and {{lang|nl|radio's}} (English ''radios''). This often produces so-called "[[Dunglish]]" errors when carried over into English.<ref>{{cite book |title=Righting English That's Gone Dutch |chapter=Dutch Greengrocers |pages=39–40 |first=Joy |last=Burrough-Boenisch |edition=2nd |publisher=Kemper Conseil Publishing |date=2004 |isbn=9789076542089}}</ref> [[Hyperforeignism]] has been formalised in some pseudo-[[anglicism]]s. For example, the French word {{lang|fr|[[:fr:pin's|pin's]]}} (from English ''pin'') is used (with the apostrophe in both singular and plural) for [[collectible]] [[lapel pin]]s. Similarly, there is an [[Andorra]]n football club called {{lang|ca|italic=no|[[FC Rànger's]]}} (after such British clubs as [[Rangers F.C.]]) and a Japanese dance group called [[Super Monkey's]].

==== Omission ====
In the UK there is a tendency to drop apostrophes in many commonly used names such as [[Lytham St Annes|St Annes]], St Johns Lane,<ref>A search on www.multimpap.com for "St Johns Lane" in the UK, with or without apostrophe, finds the apostrophe omitted in 5 instances out of 25</ref> and so on. UK supermarket chain [[Tesco]] omits the mark where standard practice would require it. Signs in Tesco advertise (among other items) {{typo|"mens magazines", "girls toys", "kids books" and "womens shoes"}}. In his book ''[[Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words|Troublesome Words]]'', author [[Bill Bryson]] lambasts Tesco for this, stating that "the mistake is inexcusable, and those who make it are linguistic [[Neanderthals in popular culture|Neanderthal]]s."<ref>Bill Bryson, ''Troublesome Words'', Penguin, 2nd edition, 1987, p.&nbsp;177</ref>

The [[United States Board on Geographic Names]] discourages the use of possessive apostrophes in geographic names<!-- See #Possessives in geographic names --><ref>{{cite book |publisher=[[U.S. Board on Geographic Names]] |title=Principles, Policies, and Procedures |chapter=Domestic Geographic Names Editorial Guidelines |chapter-url=https://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/pubs/DNC_PPP_DEC_2016_V.2.0.pdf |date=December 2016 |page=35 |access-date=4 August 2019 |archive-date=4 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804192010/https://geonames.usgs.gov/docs/pubs/DNC_PPP_DEC_2016_V.2.0.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref> although state agencies do not always conform; Vermont's official state website provides information concerning [[Camel's Hump State Forest]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://fpr.vermont.gov/camels-hump-state-forest-0 |title=Camel's Hump State Forest |access-date=24 July 2020 |archive-date=13 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913192348/https://fpr.vermont.gov/camels-hump-state-forest-0 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Geographical Names Board of [[New South Wales]], Australia, excludes possessive apostrophes from place names, along with other punctuation.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.gnb.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/220148/GNB_Place_Naming_Policy.pdf |publisher=Geographical Names Board of NSW |title=Geographical Names Board of NSW Policy: Place Naming |date=July 2019 |access-date=2 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191201043637/https://www.gnb.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/220148/GNB_Place_Naming_Policy.pdf |archive-date=1 December 2019 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Particular cases ====
[[George Bernard Shaw]], a proponent of [[English-language spelling reform|English spelling reform]] on phonetic principles, argued that the apostrophe was mostly redundant. He did not use it for spelling ''cant'', ''hes'', etc., in many of his writings; however, he allowed ''I'm'' and ''it's''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wwnorton.com/nto/20century/topic_4/shaw.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040307111113/http://www.wwnorton.com/nto/20century/topic_4/shaw.htm |archive-date=7 March 2004 |title=George Bernard Shaw, from Pygmalion |publisher=[[The Norton Anthology of English Literature]] |date=2003 |access-date=1 February 2017}}</ref> [[Hubert Selby Jr.]] used a slash instead of an apostrophe mark for contractions and did not use an apostrophe at all for possessives. [[Lewis Carroll]] made greater use of apostrophes, and frequently used ''sha'n't'', with an apostrophe in place of the elided ''ll'' as well as the more usual ''o''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dace.co.uk/apostrophe.htm |title=The English apostrophe |publisher=Dace.co.uk |date=30 June 2007 |access-date=1 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170421104729/http://www.dace.co.uk/apostrophe.htm |archive-date=21 April 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first=Lewis |last=Carroll |title=Sylvie and Bruno Concluded |url=http://talebooks.com/ebooks/603.pdf |publisher=TaleBooks.com |access-date=1 February 2017 |archive-date=7 February 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180207005104/http://talebooks.com/ebooks/603.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> These authors' usages have not become widespread. The British pop group [[Hear'Say]] famously made unconventional use of an apostrophe in its name. Truss comments that "the naming of Hear'Say in 2001 was&nbsp;... a significant milestone on the road to punctuation anarchy".<ref>Truss, Lynne (2 December 2003). [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/dec/02/referenceandlanguages.tefl] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161101043806/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2003/dec/02/referenceandlanguages.tefl|date=1 November 2016}} [[The Guardian]] Books: John Mullan</ref>

=== Criticism ===
Over the years, the use of apostrophes has been criticised. George Bernard Shaw called them "uncouth bacilli", referring to the apostrophe-like shape of many [[Bacillus|bacteria]]. The author and language commentator [[Anu Garg]] has called for the abolition of the apostrophe, stating "Some day this world would be free of metastatic cancers, narcissistic con men, and the apostrophe".<ref name="wordsmith">{{cite web |url=https://wordsmith.org/words/cats_pajamas.html |title=A.Word.A.Day: Cat's Pajamas |last=Garg |first=Anu |date=1 July 2019 |work=Wordsmith.org |access-date=3 July 2019 |archive-date=3 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703155349/https://wordsmith.org/words/cats_pajamas.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In his book ''American Speech'', linguist Steven Byington stated of the apostrophe that "the language would be none the worse for its abolition". Adrian Room, in his ''[[English Journal]]'' article "Axing the Apostrophe", argued that apostrophes are unnecessary, and context will resolve any ambiguity.<ref name="about">{{cite web |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/plural-grammar-1691638 |title=The Long Campaign to Abolish the Apostrophe |last=Nordquist |first=Richard |date=29 October 2008 |via=Grammar.About.com |access-date=1 May 2011 |archive-date=10 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810190826/http://grammar.about.com/b/2008/10/29/the-long-campaign-to-abolish-the-apostrophe.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In a letter to the ''English Journal'', Peter Brodie stated that apostrophes are "largely decorative ... [and] rarely clarify meaning".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Brodie |first=Peter |date=November 1996 |title=Never Say ''Never'': Teaching Grammar and Usage |journal=The English Journal |publisher=National Council of Teachers of English |volume=85 |issue=7| page=78 |jstor=820514 |doi=10.2307/820514}}</ref> [[John C. Wells]], emeritus professor of phonetics at [[University College London]], says the apostrophe is "a waste of time".<ref>{{Cite news |date=8 September 2008 |title=Teaching correct spelling is a waste of time – and the apostrophe should be scrapped, says expert |url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/teaching-correct-spelling-is-a-waste-of-time-and-the-apostrophe-should-be-scrapped-says-expert-6809038.html |access-date=18 August 2020 |work=Evening Standard |location=London |archive-date=14 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914214555/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/teaching-correct-spelling-is-a-waste-of-time-and-the-apostrophe-should-be-scrapped-says-expert-6809038.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The Apostrophe Protection Society, founded by retired journalist John Richards in 2001, closed in 2019, after a period of 18 years of campaigning for its preservation and correct usage. Closing the association, Richards, then aged 96, said that "We, and our many supporters worldwide, have done our best but the ignorance and laziness present in modern times have won!".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/dec/01/laziness-has-won-apostrophe-society-admits-its-defeat|title='Laziness has won': Apostrophe society admits its defeat |work=The Guardian |agency=PA Media |date=1 December 2019 |access-date=13 September 2020 |archive-date=13 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200913124010/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/dec/01/laziness-has-won-apostrophe-society-admits-its-defeat |url-status=live}} See also: {{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/shortcuts/2019/dec/02/the-pedants-pedant-why-the-apostrophe-protection-society-has-closed-in-disgust#comment-136102201 |title=The pedants' pedant: Why the Apostrophe Protection Society has closed in disgust |work=The Guardian |date=3 December 2019 |access-date=3 December 2019 |archive-date=3 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203015851/https://www.theguardian.com/education/shortcuts/2019/dec/02/the-pedants-pedant-why-the-apostrophe-protection-society-has-closed-in-disgust#comment-136102201 |url-status=live}} The Society's [http://www.apostrophe.org.uk website] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090117000935/http://apostrophe.org.uk/ |date=17 January 2009}} "will however remain open for some time for reference and interest".</ref> In a ''[[Chronicle of Higher Education]]'' blog, [[Geoffrey Pullum]] proposed that the apostrophe be considered the 27th letter of the alphabet, arguing that it is not a form of [[punctuation]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pullum |first=Geoffrey K. |author-link=Geoffrey Pullum |title=Lingua Franca: Being an apostrophe |date=22 March 2013 |journal=[[Chronicle of Higher Education]] |url=https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2013/03/21/being-an-apostrophe/ |access-date=23 February 2023 |archive-date=23 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223235808/https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2013/03/21/being-an-apostrophe/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

== Non-English use ==

=== As a mark of elision ===
In many languages, especially European languages, the apostrophe is used to indicate the [[elision]] of one or more sounds, as in English.
* In [[Albanian language|Albanian]], the apostrophe is used to show that a vowel has been omitted from words, especially in different forms of verbs and in some forms of personal pronoun. For example, {{lang|SQ|t'i}}: them (from {{lang|SQ|të + i}}: them), {{lang|SQ|m'i mori}} (from {{lang|SQ|më + i mori}}). It is used too in some of the forms of possessive pronouns, for example: {{lang|SQ|s'ëmës}} (from {{lang|SQ|së ëmës}}).
* In [[Afrikaans]], as in Dutch, the apostrophe is used to show that letters have been omitted from words. The most common use is in the indefinite article {{lang|AF|'n}}, which is a contraction of ''een'' meaning 'one' (the number). As the initial ''e'' is omitted and cannot be capitalised, the second word in a sentence that begins with {{lang|AF|'n}} is capitalised instead. For example: {{lang|af|'n Boom is groen}}, 'A tree is green'. In addition, the apostrophe is used for plurals and diminutives where the root ends with long [[vowel]]s, e.g. {{lang|af|foto's}}, {{lang|af|taxi's}}, {{lang|af|Lulu's}}, {{lang|af|Lulu'tjie}}, etc.<ref>{{cite book |title=Afrikaanse Woordelys en Spelreëls |place=Cape Town, South Africa |publisher=Pharos Woordeboeke |date=2002 |edition=9th |url= http://www.nb.co.za/product/afrikaanse-woordelys-en-spelre-ls----de-uitgawe/7390/ |isbn=1868900347 |access-date=11 July 2009 |archive-date=20 April 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100420025344/http://www.nb.co.za/product/afrikaanse-woordelys-en-spelre-ls----de-uitgawe/7390/ |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* In [[Catalan language|Catalan]], [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Ligurian (Romance language)|Ligurian]], and [[Occitan language|Occitan]] word sequences such as {{lang|FR|[[coup d'état|(coup) d'état]]}}, {{lang|FR|[[Maître d'hôtel|(maître) d'hôtel]]}} (often shortened to ''maître d{{'}}'', when used in English), {{lang|IT|[[L'Aquila]]}}, {{lang|FR|[[Alpe d'Huez|L'Alpe d'Huez]]}} and {{lang|CA|[[L'Hospitalet de Llobregat]]}} the final vowel in the first word (''de'' 'of', ''le'' 'the', etc.) is elided because the word that follows it starts with a vowel or a [[H|mute h]]. [[Elision (French)|French elision]] similarly occurs with {{lang|FR|qu'il}} instead of {{lang|FR|que il}} ('that he'), {{lang|FR|c'est}} instead of {{lang|FR|ce est}} ('it is' / 'it's'), and so on. Catalan, French, Italian, and Occitan surnames sometimes contain apostrophes of elision, e.g. {{lang|FR|d’Alembert}}, {{lang|IT|D'Angelo}}.
** French feminine singular [[possessive adjective]]s do not undergo such elision anymore, but change to the masculine form instead: ''{{lang|FR|ma}}'' preceding ''{{lang|FR|église}}'' becomes ''{{lang|FR|mon église}}'' ('my church').{{NoteTag|In early French such elisions did occur: ''{{lang|FR|m'espée}}'' (''{{lang|FR|ma}}''&nbsp;+''{{lang|FR|espée}}'', modern French ''{{lang|FR|mon épée}}'': 'my sword'), ''{{lang|FR|s'enfance}}'' (''{{lang|FR|sa}}''&nbsp;+''{{lang|FR|enfance}}'', ''{{lang|FR|son enfance}}'': 'his or her childhood'). But the only modern survivals of this elision with apostrophe are ''{{lang|FR|m'amie}}'' and ''{{lang|FR|m'amour}}'', as archaic and idiomatic alternatives to ''{{lang|FR|mon amie}}'' and ''{{lang|FR|mon amour}}'' ('my [female] friend', 'my love'); forms without the apostrophe also used: ''{{lang|FR|mamie}}'' or ''{{lang|FR|ma mie}}'', ''{{lang|FR|mamour}}''.}}
** [[Quebec]]'s [[Bill 101]], which dictates the use of [[Quebec French|French in the province]], prohibits the use of apostrophes in proper names in which it would not be used in proper French (thus the international donut chain [[Tim Hortons]], originally spelled with the possessive apostrophe as Tim Horton's, was required to drop the apostrophe in Quebec to comply with Bill 101).<ref>{{cite news|last=Dickinson |first=Casey |title=Canadian Doughnut Shop Targets Upstate |work=CNY Business Journal |date=24 November 2000 |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3718/is_200011/ai_n8927439/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060318230325/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3718/is_200011/ai_n8927439 |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 March 2006}}</ref>
* In [[Danish language|Danish]], apostrophes are sometimes seen on [[advertising|commercial]] materials. One might commonly see {{lang|da|Ta' mig med}} ('Take me with [you]') next to a stand with advertisement leaflets; that would be written {{lang|da|Tag mig med}} in standard orthography. As in German, the apostrophe must not be used to indicate the possessive, except when there is already an ''s'', ''x'' or ''z'' present in the base form, as in {{lang|da|Esajas' bog}} ('the Book of Esajas').
* In [[Dutch language|Dutch]], as in Afrikaans, the apostrophe is used to indicate omitted characters. For example, the indefinite article {{lang|nl|een}} can be shortened to {{lang|nl|'n}}, and the definite article {{lang|nl|het}} shortened to {{lang|nl|'t}}. When this happens in the first word of a sentence, the ''second'' word of the sentence is capitalised. In general, this way of using the apostrophe is considered non-standard, except as ''[[Genitive case|genitivus temporalis]]'' in {{lang|nl|'s morgens}}, {{lang|nl|'s middags}}, {{lang|nl|'s avonds}}, {{lang|nl|'s nachts}} (for {{lang|nl|des morgens, des middags, des avonds, des nachts}}, 'at morning, at afternoon, at evening, at night') and in some frozen place names such as ''[['s-Hertogenbosch]]'' ([[possessive]], lit. "The [[Duke]]'s forest"), ''{{'}}s-Gravenhage'' (traditional name of [[The Hague]], lit. "The [[Count]]'s hedge"), ''{{'}}s-Gravenbrakel'' ([[Braine-le-Comte]], in Belgium), ''{{'}}s-Hertogenrade'' ([[Herzogenrath]], in Germany), etc. In addition, the apostrophe is used for plurals where the singulars end with long [[vowel]]s, e.g. {{lang|nl|foto's}}, {{lang|nl|taxi's}}; and for the genitive of proper names ending with these vowels, e.g. {{lang|nl|Anna's}}, {{lang|nl|Otto's}}. These are in fact elided vowels; use of the apostrophe prevents spellings like {{lang|nl|fotoos}} and {{lang|nl|Annaas}}; however, most [[diminutive]]s do not use an apostrophe where the plural forms would; producing spellings such as {{lang|nl|fotootje}} and {{lang|nl|taxietje}}.
* In [[Esperanto]], the {{lang|eo|italic=no|[[Fundamento de Esperanto|Fundamento]]}} limits the elision mark to the definite article {{lang|eo|l'}} (from {{lang|eo|la}}) and singular nominative nouns ({{lang|eo|kor'}} from {{lang|eo|koro}}, 'heart'). This is mostly confined to poetry and songs. Idiomatic phrases such as {{lang|eo|dank' al}} (from {{lang|eo|(kun) danko al}}, 'thanks to') and {{lang|eo|del'}} (from {{lang|eo|de la}} 'of the') are nonetheless frequent. In-word elision is usually marked with a [[hyphen]], as in {{lang|eo|D-ro}} (from {{lang|eo|doktoro}}, 'Dr'). Some early guides used and advocated the use of apostrophes between word parts, to aid recognition of such [[compound word]]s as {{lang|eo|gitar'ist'o}}, 'guitarist'; but in the latter case, modern usage is to use either a hyphen or a middle dot when disambiguation is necessary, as in ''ĉas-hundo'' or ''ĉas·hundo'', "a hunting dog", not to be mispronounced as ''ĉa.ŝun.do''.
* In Finnish, the apostrophe is used in inflected forms of words whose basic form has a "k" between similar vowels, to show that the "k" has elided in the inflected form: for example the word ''{{lang|FI|raaka}}'' ("raw") becomes ''{{lang|FI|raa'at}}'' in the plural. The apostrophe shows that the identical vowels on either side of it belong to different syllables.
* The [[Galician language]] standard admits the use of the apostrophe ({{lang|gl|apóstrofo}}) for contractions that normally do not use it (e.g.: de + a= da), when the second element begins a proper noun, generally a title: {{lang|gl|o argumento d'A Esmorga}} (the plot of A Esmorga [title of a novel]).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005 |title=Normas ortográficas e morfolóxicas do idioma galego |url=https://www.lingua.gal/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=1647069&name=DLFE-10938.pdf |access-date=April 19, 2024 |website=O portal da lingua galega |page=26}}</ref> They are also used to reproduce oral elisions and, as stated below, to join (or split) commercial names of popular public establishments such as restaurants ({{lang|gl|O'Pote}}, The pot).
* In [[Luganda|Ganda]], when a word ending with a [[vowel]] is followed by a word beginning with a vowel, the final vowel of the first word is [[elision|elided]] and the initial vowel of the second word [[vowel length|lengthened]] in compensation. When the first word is a [[monosyllable]], this elision is represented in the orthography with an apostrophe: in ''{{lang|lg|taata w'abaana}}'' 'the father of the children', ''{{lang|lg|wa}}'' ('of') becomes&nbsp;''w''{{'}}; in ''{{lang|lg|y'ani?}}'' ('who is it?'), ''{{lang|lg|ye}}'' ('who') becomes&nbsp;''y{{'}}''. But the final vowel of a [[polysyllable]] is always written, even if it is elided in speech: ''{{lang|lg|omusajja oyo}}'' ('this man'), not *''{{lang|lg|omusajj'oyo}}'', because ''{{lang|lg|omusajja}}'' ('man') is a polysyllable.
* In German an apostrophe is used almost exclusively to indicate omitted letters. It must not be used for plurals or most of the possessive forms. The only exceptions are the possessive cases of names ending in an "s"-sound as in ''{{lang|de|Max' Vater}}'', or "to prevent ambiguities" in all other possessive cases of names, as in ''{{lang|de|Andrea's Blumenladen}}'' (referring to the female name ''{{lang|de|Andrea}}'', not the male name ''{{lang|de|Andreas}}''). The English/Saxon style of using an apostrophe for possession was introduced after the spelling reform, but is strongly disagreed on by native speakers, and discouraged. Although possessive usage (beyond the exceptions) is widespread, it is often deemed incorrect. The German equivalent of "greengrocers' apostrophes" would be the derogatory ''{{lang|de|Deppenapostroph}}'' ('idiot's apostrophe'; {{crossreference|see the article [[:de:Apostrophitis|Apostrophitis]] in German Wikipedia}}).
* {{anchor|Greek apostrophe|Apostrofos}}<!--linked from Romanization of Greek, apostrofos, &c.--> In modern printings of [[Ancient Greek]], apostrophes are also used to mark elision. Some Ancient Greek words that end in short vowels elide when the next word starts with a vowel. For example, many Ancient Greek authors would write {{lang|grc|δἄλλος}} (''{{transliteration|grc|d'állos}}'') for {{lang|grc|δὲ ἄλλος}} (''{{transliteration|grc|dè állos}}'') and {{lang|grc|ἆροὐ}} (''{{transliteration|grc|âr' ou}}'') for {{lang|grc|ἆρα οὐ}} (''{{transliteration|grc|âra ou}}''). Such modern usage should be carefully distinguished from [[polytonic orthography|polytonic Greek]]'s native [[rough breathing|rough]] and [[smooth breathing]] marks, which usually appear as a form of rounded apostrophe.
* In [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], the ''[[geresh]]'' (׳), often typed as an apostrophe, is used to denote abbreviations. A double ''geresh'' (״), known by the dual form [[gershayim]], is used to denote [[acronym]]s or [[initialism]]s; it is inserted before (i.e., to the right of) the last letter of the acronym. Examples: {{lang|he|פרופ׳}} (abbreviation for {{lang|he|פרופסור}}, 'professor', '[[professor]]'); {{lang|he|נ״ב}} (''{{transliteration|he|nun-bet}}'', '[[Postscript|P.S.]]'). The ''geresh'' is also used to indicate the elision of a sound; however, this use is much less frequent, and confined to the purpose of imitating a natural, informal utterance, for example: {{Lang|he|אנ׳לא|rtl=yes}} (''{{transliteration|he|anlo}}'' – short for {{lang|he|אני לא|rtl=yes}}, ''{{transliteration|he|ani lo}}'', 'I am/do not').
* In Irish, the past tense of verbs beginning with a vowel, or with ''fh'' followed by a vowel, begins with ''d' ''(elision of ''do''), for example {{lang|GA|do oscail}} becomes {{lang|GA|d'oscail}} ('opened') and {{lang|GA|do fhill}} becomes {{lang|GA|d'fhill}} ('returned'). The [[Copula (linguistics)|copula]] {{lang|GA|is}} is often elided to ''{{'s}}'', and {{lang|GA|do}} ('to'), {{lang|GA|mo}} ('my') etc. are elided before ''f'' and vowels.
* In [[Italian language|Italian]] it is used for elision with pronouns, as in {{lang|IT|l'ha}} instead of {{lang|IT|la ha}}; with articles, as in {{lang|IT|l'opera}} instead of {{lang|IT|la opera}}; and for truncation, as in {{lang|IT|po'}} instead of {{lang|IT|poco}}. Stylistically, sentences beginning with È (as in {{lang|IT|È vero che ...}}) are often rendered as E' in newspapers, to minimise [[leading]] (inter-line spacing).
* In modern [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], the apostrophe marks that a word has been contracted, such as ''{{lang|no|ha'kke}}'' from ''{{lang|no|har ikke}}'' ('have/has not'). Unlike English and French, such elisions are not accepted as part of standard orthography but are used to create a more "oral style" in writing. The apostrophe is also used to mark the genitive for words that end in an -s sound: words ending in -s, -x, and -z, some speakers also including words ending in the sound {{IPA|no|ʂ|}}. As Norwegian does not form the plural with -s, there is no need to distinguish between an -s forming the possessive and the -s forming the plural. Therefore, we have ''{{lang|no|mann}}'' ('man') and ''{{lang|no|manns}}'' ('man's'), without apostrophe, but ''{{lang|no|los}}'' ('naval pilot') and ''{{lang|no|los}}''' ('naval pilot's'). Indicating the possessive for the two former American presidents named George Bush, whose names end in {{IPA|no|ʂ|}}, could be written as both ''{{lang|no|Bushs}}'' (simply adding an -s to the name) and ''{{lang|no|Bush'}}'' (adding an apostrophe to the end of the name).{{clarify|date=June 2018|reason=Replace this confusing example with something that's actually Norwegian.}}
* In [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]] the apostrophe is used to reproduce certain popular pronunciations such as {{Lang|PT|s'enxerga}} (pay attention to yourself) or in a few combinations of word, when there is the suppression of the vowel of the preposition ''de'' in certain compound words (the ones formed by two or more stems) such as {{lang|PT|caixa-d'água}} ('water tower'), {{lang|PT|galinha-d'angola}} ('guineafowl'), {{lang|PT|pau-d'alho}} (a plant species, {{lang|LA|Gallesia integrifolia}}), {{Lang|PT|estrela-d'alva}} ('morning star'), etc. The apostrophe is most commonly not used in the word ''pra'', the reduced or popular form of the preposition ''para,'' but some advocate for its used in preposition + article contractions: ''para + a = p'ra/pra'', ''para + o = p'ro/pro'', etc.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Sousandrade (Sousândrade) |first=Joaquim de |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWXBCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT43 |title=O Guesa |date=2014-01-06 |publisher=Editora Ponteio - Dumará Distribuidora Lta |isbn=978-85-64116-35-1 |language=pt-BR}}</ref>.
* In modern Spanish the apostrophe is no longer used to indicate elision in standard writing, although it can sometimes be found in older poetry for that purpose.{{NoteTag|Examples include ''{{lang|es|Nuestras vidas son los ríos/que van a dar en la mar,/qu'es el morir.}}'' meaning 'Our lives are the rivers/that flow to give to the sea,/which is death.' (from ''Coplas de Don Jorge Manrique por la muerte de su padre'', 1477) and ''{{lang|es|¿...&nbsp;qué me ha de aprovechar ver la pintura/d'aquel que con las alas derretidas&nbsp;...?}}'' meaning '...&nbsp;what could it help me to see the painting of that one with the melted wings&nbsp;...?' (from the 12th sonnet of Garcilazo de la Vega, {{circa|1500}}–36).}} Instead Spanish writes out the words in full, for example ''{{lang|es|de enero}}'' and ''{{lang|es|mi hijo}}'', and the elisions are supplied by the speaker. There is an exception for the contractions ''{{lang|es|del}}'' and ''{{lang|es|al}}'', which respectively stand for [''{{lang|es|de}}'' + ''{{lang|es|el}}''] and [''{{lang|es|a}}'' + ''{{lang|es|el}}''], and which use no apostrophe.
* In [[Swedish (language)|Swedish]], the apostrophe marks an elision, such as ''{{lang|sv|på sta'n}}'', short for ''{{lang|sv|på staden}}'' ('in the city'), to make the text more similar to the spoken language. This is relaxed style, fairly rarely used, and would not be used by traditional newspapers in political articles, but could be used in entertainment related articles and similar. The formal way to denote elision in Swedish is by using colon, e.g. ''{{lang|sv|S:t Erik}}'' for ''{{lang|sv|Sankt Erik}}'' which is rarely spelled out in full. The apostrophe must not be used to indicate the possessive except – although not mandatory – when there is already an ''s'', ''x'' or ''z'' present in the base form, as in ''{{lang|sv|Lukas' bok}}''.
* [[Welsh language|Welsh]] uses the apostrophe to mark elision of the definite article {{lang|CY|yr}} ('the') following a vowel (''a'', ''e'', ''i'', ''o'', ''u'', ''y'', or, in Welsh, ''w''), as in {{lang|CY|i'r tŷ}}, 'to the house'. It is also used with the particle {{lang|CY|yn}}, such as with {{lang|CY|mae hi'n}}, 'she is'.

=== As a glottal stop ===
{{See also|ʻOkina|Saltillo (linguistics)|Modifier letter apostrophe|Modifier letter double apostrophe|Modifier letter right half ring}}
Several languages and transliteration systems use the apostrophe or some similar mark to indicate a [[glottal stop]], sometimes considering it a letter of the alphabet:
	
* In several [[Finno-Ugric languages]], such as [[Estonian language|Estonian]] and [[Finnish language|Finnish]]; for example in the Finnish word ''{{lang|fi|raa’an}}'', being the genitive or accusative of ''{{lang|fi|raaka}}'' ('raw').
* In [[Guaraní language|Guarani]], it is called ''{{lang|gn|puso}}'' {{IPA|/puˈso/}}, and used in the words ''{{lang|gn|ñe'ẽ}}'' (language, to speak), ''{{lang|gn|ka'a}}'' (grass), ''{{lang|gn|a'ỹ}}'' (sterile).
* In [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]], the ''[[{{okina}}okina]]'' {{angle bracket|{{okina}}}}, an inverted apostrophe, is often rendered as {{angle bracket|'}}. It is considered a letter of the alphabet.
* [[Mayan language|Mayan]].
* In the [[Tongan language]], the apostrophe is called a ''{{lang|to|fakauʻa}}'' and is the last letter of the alphabet. It represents the glottal stop. Like the {{okina}}okina, it is inverted.
* Various other [[Austronesian languages]], such as [[Samoan language|Samoan]], [[Tahitian language|Tahitian]], and [[Chamorro language|Chamorro]].
* [[Tetum language|Tetum]], one of the official languages of [[East Timor]].
* The Brazilian native [[Tupi language]].
* [[Mossi language|Mossi]] (Mooré), a language of [[Burkina Faso]].
* In [[Võro language|Võro]], the apostrophe is used in parallel with the letter ''q'' as symbol of plural, for example ''majaq'' or ''maja{{'}}'' ('houses'), imperative ''annaq'' or ''anna''', and in all other word forms with glottal stop.
* Several [[fictional languages]] such as [[Klingon language|Klingon]], [[D'ni language|D'ni]], [[Mando'a]] or [[Na'vi language|Na'vi]] add apostrophes to make names appear "alien".

The apostrophe represents sounds resembling the glottal stop in the [[Turkic languages]] and in some [[romanization]]s of [[Semitic languages]], including [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]. In that case, the letter ''[[ayin|'ayn]]'' (Arabic ع and Hebrew ע) is correspondingly transliterated with the opening single quotation mark.

=== As a mark of palatalization or non-palatalization ===
Some languages and [[transliteration]] systems use the apostrophe to mark the presence, or the lack of, [[palatalization (phonetics)|palatalization]]:

* In [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]] and [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]], the apostrophe is used between a consonant and a following "soft" ([[Iotation|iotated]]) vowel (Be.: [[е]], [[ё]], [[ю]], [[я]]; Uk.: [[є]], [[ї]], [[ю]], [[я]]) to indicate that ''no'' palatalization of the preceding consonant takes place, and the vowel is pronounced in the same way as at the beginning of a word. It therefore marks a morpheme boundary before {{IPA|/j/}} and, in Belarusian, is a letter of the alphabet (as the hard sign in Russian is) rather than a simple punctuation mark in English, as it is not a punctuation mark in Belarusian. It appears frequently in Ukrainian, as, for instance, in the words: {{lang|uk|{{angbr|п'ять}}}} ({{transliteration|uk|p"jat'}}) 'five', {{lang|uk|{{angbr|від'їзд}}}} ({{transliteration|uk|vid"jizd}}) 'departure', {{lang|uk|{{angbr|об'єднаний}}}} ({{transliteration|uk|ob"jednanyj}}) 'united', {{lang|uk|{{angbr|з'ясувати}}}} ({{transliteration|uk|z"jasuvaty}}) 'to clear up, explain', {{lang|uk|{{angbr|п'єса}}}} ({{transliteration|uk|p"jesa}}) play (drama), etc.<ref>Daniel Bunčić (Bonn), "The apostrophe: A neglected and misunderstood reading aid" at the [http://homepages.uni-tuebingen.de/daniel.buncic/apostroph/apostrophe.pdf Tübingen University website] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414224723/http://homepages.uni-tuebingen.de/daniel.buncic/apostroph/apostrophe.pdf |date=14 April 2012}}</ref><ref>[https://linguistlist.org/issues/13/13-1566/ Linguist List 13.1566, Daniel Bunčić, "Apostrophe rules in languages"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113225725/http://linguistlist.org/issues/13/13-1566.html |date=13 January 2010}}, from 31 May 2002.</ref>
* In [[Russian language|Russian]] and some derived alphabets, the same function has been served by the [[hard sign]] (ъ, formerly called ''yer''). But the apostrophe saw some use as a substitute after 1918, when Soviet authorities enforced an orthographic reform by confiscating [[movable type]] bearing the hard sign from stubborn printing houses in Petrograd.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090604160709/http://www.vladtv.ru/leksikon.shtml?news=131 "Лексикон" Валерия Скорбилина Архив выпусков программы]. vladtv.ru (Archives in Russian)</ref>
* In some [[Latin transliteration]]s of certain [[Cyrillic alphabets]] (for [[Belarusian language|Belarusian]], [[Romanization of Russian|Russian]], and [[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]), the apostrophe is used to replace the [[soft sign]] (ь, indicating palatalization of the preceding consonant), e.g., ''Русь'' is transliterated ''[[Kievan Rus'|Rus']]'' according to the [[BGN/PCGN system]]. The [[prime symbol]] is also used for the same purpose. Some of these transliteration schemes use a [[Modifier letter double apostrophe|double apostrophe]] (&nbsp;ˮ&nbsp;) to represent the apostrophe in Ukrainian and Belarusian text and the hard sign (ъ) in Russian text, e.g. Ukrainian ''{{lang|uk|слов'янське}}'' ('Slavic') is transliterated as ''{{transliteration|uk|slov"jans'ke}}''.
* Some [[Karelian language|Karelian]] orthographies use an apostrophe to indicate palatalization, e.g. ''{{lang|krl|n'evvuo}}'' ('to give advice'), ''{{lang|uk|d'uuri}}'' ('just (like)'), ''{{lang|uk|el'vüttiä}}'' ('to revive').
* In [[Võro language|Võro]] an apostrophe is often (also in the Võro Wikipedia) used as a simplification to replace the regular Võro palatalization mark, which is the accute accent, for example ''as'aq'' replacing regular form ''aśaq'' ('things').

=== To separate morphemes ===
Some languages use the apostrophe to separate the [[Root (linguistics)|root]] of a word and its [[affix]]es, especially if the root is foreign and unassimilated.<!-- For another kind of morphemic separation, see [[#Miscellaneous uses in other languages|pinyin]] below -->
* In [[Danish language|Danish]] an apostrophe is sometimes used to join the [[enclitic]] [[definite article]] to words of foreign origin, or to other words that would otherwise look awkward. For example, one would write ''{{lang|da|IP'en}}'' to mean "the [[IP address]]". There is some variation in what is considered "awkward enough" to warrant an apostrophe; for instance, long-established words such as ''{{lang|da|firma}}'' ('company') or ''{{lang|da|niveau}}'' ('level') might be written ''{{lang|da|firma'et}}'' and ''{{lang|da|niveau'et}}'', but will generally be seen without an apostrophe. Due to Danish influence, this usage of the apostrophe can also be seen in Norwegian, but is non-standard – a hyphen should be used instead: e.g. {{lang|no|CD-en}} (the CD).
* In [[Estonian language|Estonian]], apostrophes can be used in the declension of some foreign names to separate the stem from any [[declension]] endings; e.g., ''{{lang|et|Monet{{'}}}}'' ([[genitive case]]) or ''{{lang|et|Monet'sse}}'' ([[illative case]]) of ''[[Claude Monet|Monet]]''.
* In [[Finnish language|Finnish]], apostrophes are used in the declension of foreign names or loan words that end in a consonant when written but are pronounced with a vowel ending, e.g. ''{{lang|fi|show'ssa}}'' ('in a show'), ''{{lang|fi|Bordeaux'hon}}'' ('to Bordeaux'). For Finnish as well as [[Swedish language|Swedish]], there is a closely related [[colon (punctuation)#Suffix separator|use of the colon]].
* In [[Polish language|Polish]], the apostrophe is used exclusively for marking inflections of words and word-like elements (but not [[acronym]]s – a hyphen is used instead) whose spelling conflicts with the normal rules of inflection. This mainly affects foreign words and names. For instance, one would correctly write ''{{lang|pl|Kampania Ala Gore'a}}'' for "[[Al Gore]]'s campaign". In this example, ''{{lang|pl|Ala}}'' is spelled without an apostrophe, since its spelling and pronunciation fit into normal Polish rules; but ''{{lang|pl|Gore'a}}'' needs the apostrophe, because ''e'' disappears from the pronunciation, changing the inflection pattern. This rule is often misunderstood as calling for an apostrophe after ''all'' foreign words, regardless of their pronunciation, yielding the incorrect ''{{lang|pl|Kampania Al'a Gore'a}}'', for example. The effect is akin to the greengrocers' apostrophe<!-- See above -->
* In [[Turkish language|Turkish]], [[proper nouns]] are capitalised and an apostrophe is inserted between the noun and any following [[inflectional suffix]], e.g. ''{{lang|tr|İstanbul'da}}'' ("in [[Istanbul]]"), contrasting with ''{{lang|tr|okulda}}'' ("in school", ''{{lang|tr|okul}}'' is a common noun) and ''{{lang|tr|İstanbullu}}'' ('Istanbulite', ''-lu'' is a [[derivational suffix]]).<ref>[http://www.tdk.gov.tr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=187 The rules regarding the apostrophe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130107010200/http://www.tdk.gov.tr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=187 |date=7 January 2013}} on the site of the Turkish Language Institute (TDK), the official authority on the Turkish language</ref>
* In [[Welsh language|Welsh]] the apostrophe is used with infixed pronouns in order to distinguish them from the preceding word (e.g. ''{{lang|cy|a'm chwaer}}'', 'and my sister' as opposed to ''{{lang|cy|am chwaer}}'', 'about a sister').

=== Miscellaneous uses in other languages ===
* In [[Breton language|Breton]], the combination ''{{lang|br|cʼh}}'' is used for the consonant {{IPA|/x/}} (like ''ch'' in [[Scottish English]] ''Loch Ness''), while ''{{lang|br|ch}}'' is used for the consonant {{IPA|/ʃ/}} (as in French ''{{lang|fr|chat}}'' or English ''she'').
* In [[Czech language|Czech]], an apostrophe is used for writing to indicate spoken or informal language where the writer wants to express the natural way of informal speech, but it should not be used in formal text or text of a serious nature. E.g., instead of ''{{lang|cs|četl}}'' ('he read'), the word form ''{{lang|cs|čet'}}'' is used. ''{{lang|cs|Čet'}}'' is the informal variant of the verb form ''{{lang|cs|četl}}'', at least in some varieties.<ref>[http://cja.ujc.cas.cz/CJA4/files/04-0547.pdf Rostl, Četl, příč. min. sg. m.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220094033/http://cja.ujc.cas.cz/CJA4/files/04-0547.pdf |date=20 December 2016}} cja.ujc.cas.cz Retrieved on 8 December 2016.</ref> These two words are the same in meaning, but to use the informal form gives the text a more natural tone as if a friend were talking to you. Furthermore, the same as in the Slovak case below holds for lowercase ''t'' and ''d'', and for the two-digit year notation.
* In [[Finnish language|Finnish]], one of the [[consonant gradation]] patterns is the change of a ''k'' into a [[Hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]], e.g. ''{{lang|fi|keko}}'' → ''{{lang|fi|keon}}'' ('a pile' → 'a pile's'). This hiatus has to be indicated in spelling with an apostrophe if a long vowel (represented by doubling (e.g. {{lang|fi|oo}}) or the final vowel of a diphthong (e.g. {{lang|fi|uo}}) would be immediately followed by the same vowel, e.g. ''{{lang|fi|ruoko}}'' → ''{{lang|fi|ruo'on}}'', ''{{lang|fi|vaaka}}'' → ''{{lang|fi|vaa'an}}''. This is in contrast to compound words, where the problem of a vowel recurring over a syllable break is solved with a [[hyphen]], e.g. ''{{lang|fi|maa-ala}}'', 'land area'. Similarly, the apostrophe is used to mark the [[hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]] (contraction) that occurs in poetry, e.g. ''{{lang|fi|miss' on}}'' for ''{{lang|fi|missä on}}'' ('where is').
* [[Galician cuisine|Galician restaurants]] sometimes use ''{{'}}'' in their names following the standard article ''{{lang|gl|O}}'' ('the').<ref>[https://archive.today/20120908030006/http://www.paginasamarillas.es/resultados.asp?activ=Restaurantes+gallegos&nomb=O&prov=MADRID&pgpv=1&mode=listadirGalician Restaurantes gallegos, llamadas O en la provincia de Madrid]. paginasamarillas.es</ref>
* In [[Luganda|Ganda]], ''{{lang|lg|ng{{'}}}}'' (pronounced {{IPA|/ŋ/}}) is used in place of ''ŋ'' on keyboards where this character is not available. The apostrophe distinguishes it from the letter combination ''{{lang|lg|ng}}'' (pronounced {{IPA|[ŋɡ]}}), which has separate use in the language. Compare this with the Swahili usage below.
* In [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], the ''[[geresh]]'' (a diacritic similar to the apostrophe and often represented by one) is used for several purposes other than to mark an elision:
** As an adjacent to letters to show sounds that are not represented in the [[Hebrew alphabet]]: Sounds such as {{IPAslink|dʒ}} (English ''j'' as in ''job''), {{IPAslink|θ}} (English ''th'' as in ''thigh''), and {{IPAslink|tʃ}} (English ''ch'' as in ''check'') are indicated using ג, ת, and צ with a ''[[geresh]]'' (informally ''chupchik''). For example, the name ''George'' is spelled {{lang|he|ג׳ורג׳}} in Hebrew (with {{lang|he|ג׳}} representing the first and last consonants).
** To denote a [[Hebrew numerals|Hebrew numeral]] (e.g., {{lang|he|נ׳}}, which stands for '50')
** To denote a Hebrew letter which stands for itself (e.g., {{lang|he|מ׳}} – the letter ''[[mem]]'')
** [[Gershayim]] (a double geresh) to denote a Hebrew letter name (e.g., {{lang|he|למ״ד}} – the letter ''[[lamed]]'')
** Another (rarer) use of geresh is to denote the last syllable (which in some cases, but not all, is a [[suffix]]) in some words of [[Yiddish]] [[etymology|origin]] (e.g., {{lang|he|חבר׳ה, מיידל׳ה}}).
** In the [[Middle Ages]] and the [[Early modern period]], gershayim were also used to denote foreign words, as well as a means of [[Emphasis (typography)|emphasis]].
* In Italian, an apostrophe is sometimes used as a substitute for a [[Grave accent|grave]] or an [[acute accent]]. This may be done after an initial E or an accented final vowel (when writing in all-capitals), or when the proper form of the letter is unavailable for technical reasons. So a sentence beginning {{lang|IT|È vero che ...}} ('It is true that...') may be written as {{lang|IT|E' vero che ...}}. This form is often seen in newspapers, as it is the only case of an accent above the [[cap height]] and its omission permits the text to be more closely spaced ([[leading]]). Less commonly, a forename like {{lang|IT|Niccolò}} might be rendered as ''Niccolo{{'}}'', or ''NICCOLO{{'}}''; ''perché'', as ''perche{{'}}'', or ''PERCHE{{'}}''. This applies only to machine or computer writing, in the absence of a suitable keyboard.
* In [[Jèrriais]], one of the uses of the apostrophe is to mark [[gemination]], or consonant length: For example, ''{{lang|nrf|t't}}'' represents {{IPA|/tː/}}, ''{{lang|nrf|s's}}'' {{IPA|/sː/}}, ''{{lang|nrf|n'n}}'' {{IPA|/nː/}}, ''{{lang|nrf|th'th}}'' {{IPA|/ðː/}}, and ''{{lang|nrf|ch'ch}}'' {{IPA|/ʃː/}} (contrasted with {{IPA|/t/}}, {{IPA|/s/}}, {{IPA|/n/}}, {{IPA|/ð/}}, and {{IPA|/ʃ/}}).
* In [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]], the apostrophe is occasionally used to add a Lithuanized ending on an international word, e.g. "parking'as", "Skype'as", "Facebook'as".
* In standard [[Lojban]] orthography, the apostrophe is a letter in its own right (called {{lang|jbo|y'y}} {{IPA|[əhə]}}) that can appear only between two vowels, and is phonemically realised as either {{IPAblink|h}} or, more rarely, {{IPAblink|θ}}.
* In [[Macedonian language|Macedonian]] the apostrophe is sometimes used to represent the sound [[schwa]], which can be found on dialectal levels, but not in the Standard Macedonian.
* In [[Slovak language|Slovak]], the [[caron]] over lowercase ''t'', ''d'', ''l'', and uppercase ''L'' [[consonants]] resembles an apostrophe, for example, ''ď'', ''ť'', ''ľ'', and ''Ľ''. This is especially so in certain common typographic renderings. But it is non-standard to use an apostrophe instead of the caron. There is also ''l'' with an acute accent: ''ĺ'', ''Ĺ''. In Slovak the apostrophe is properly used only to indicate [[elision]] in certain words (''{{lang|sl|tys{{'}}}}'', as an abbreviated form of ''{{lang|sl|ty si}}'' ('you are'), or ''{{lang|sl|hor{{'}}}}'' for ''{{lang|sl|hore}}'' ('up')); however, these elisions are restricted to poetry (with a few exceptions). Moreover, the apostrophe is also used before a two-digit year number (to indicate the omission of the first two digits): ''{{lang|sl|{{'}}87}}'' (usually used for 1987).
* In [[Swahili language|Swahili]], an apostrophe after ''{{lang|sw|ng}}'' shows that there is no sound of {{IPA|/ɡ/}} after the {{IPA|/ŋ/}} sound; that is, that the ''{{lang|sw|ng}}'' is pronounced as in English ''singer'', not as in English ''finger''.
* In Switzerland, the apostrophe is used as [[thousands separator]] alongside the [[fixed space]] (e.g., 2'000'000 or {{val|2000000}} for two million) in all four [[languages of Switzerland|national languages]].
* In the new [[Uzbek alphabet|Uzbek Latin alphabet]] adopted in 2000, the apostrophe serves as a [[diacritic|diacritical mark]] to distinguish different phonemes written with the same letter: it differentiates ''{{lang|uz|oʻ}}'' (corresponding to Cyrillic ''[[Short U (Cyrillic)|ў]]'') from ''{{lang|uz|o}}'', and ''{{lang|uz|gʻ}}'' (Cyrillic ''[[Ghayn|ғ]]'') from ''{{lang|uz|g}}''. This avoids the use of special characters, allowing Uzbek to be typed with ease in ordinary [[ASCII]] on any Latin keyboard. In addition, a postvocalic apostrophe in Uzbek represents the glottal stop phoneme derived from Arabic ''[[hamza]]h'' or ''[[Ayin|ʼayn]]'', replacing Cyrillic ''[[Yer|ъ]]''.
* In English [[Yorkshire dialect]], the apostrophe is used to represent the word ''the'', which is contracted to a more glottal (or 'unreleased') /t/ sound. Most users will write ''in t'barn'' ('in the barn'), ''on t'step'' ('on the step'); and those unfamiliar with Yorkshire speech will often make these sound like ''intuh barn'' and ''ontuh step''. A more accurate rendition might be ''in't barn'' and ''on't step'', although even this does not truly convey correct Yorkshire pronunciation as the ''t'' is more like a [[glottal stop]].
* In the [[pinyin]] (hànyǔ pīnyīn) system of [[romanization]] for [[Standard Chinese]], an apostrophe is often loosely said to separate syllables in a word where ambiguity could arise. Example: the standard romanization for the name of the city ''[[Xī'ān]]'' includes an apostrophe to distinguish it from a single-syllable word ''{{transliteration|cmn|xian}}''. More strictly, it is standard to place an apostrophe only before every ''a'', ''e'', or ''o'' that starts a new syllable after the first if it is not preceded by a hyphen or a dash. Examples: ''[[Tiananmen|Tiān'ānmén]]'', ''[[Yǎ'ān]]''; but simply ''[[Jǐnán]]'', in which the syllables are ''ji'' and ''nan'', since the absence of an apostrophe shows that the syllables are not ''jin'' and ''an'' (contrast ''[[Jīn'ān]]'').<ref>[http://www.pinyin.info/romanization/hanyu/apostrophes.html Apostrophes in Hanyu Pinyin: when and where to use them] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731010900/http://www.pinyin.info/romanization/hanyu/apostrophes.html |date=31 July 2010}}. Pinyin.info. Retrieved on 7 April 2013.</ref> This is a kind of morpheme-separation marking<!-- See [[#To separate morphemes]] -->
* In the largely superseded [[Wade-Giles|Wade–Giles]] romanization for Standard Chinese, an apostrophe marks [[Aspiration (phonetics)|aspiration]] of the preceding consonant sound. Example: in ''tsê'' (pinyin ''ze'') the consonant represented by ''ts'' is unaspirated, but in ''ts'ê'' (pinyin ''ce'') the consonant represented by ''ts{{'}}'' is aspirated. Some academic users of the system write this character as a [[spiritus asper]] ({{asper}} or {{wg-apos}}) or single left (opening) [[quotation mark]] (‘).
* In some systems of romanization for the Japanese, the apostrophe is used between [[Mora (linguistics)|moras]] in ambiguous situations, to differentiate between, for example, ''{{transliteration|ja|na}}'' and ''{{transliteration|ja|n}}''&nbsp;+&nbsp;''{{transliteration|ja|a}}''. This is similar to the practice in Pinyin.
* In science fiction and fantasy, the apostrophe is often used in fictional names, sometimes to indicate a [[glottal stop]] (for example [[Mitth'raw'nuruodo]] in ''[[Star Wars]]''), but also sometimes simply for decoration.
{{Clear}}

== Typographic form ==
[[File:Apostrophe+prime+acute-in- Arial+Calibri+Tahoma+Times+Libertine.png|thumb|right|upright=2.5|Punctuation (green) and typewriter (red) apostrophe, followed by a [[prime (symbol)|prime]] (blue), between letters {{mono|Í}} and {{mono|í}} (using [[acute accent]]), using the [[font]]s: [[Arial]], [[Calibri]], [[Tahoma (typeface)|Tahoma]], [[Times New Roman]], and [[Linux Libertine]]|class=skin-invert-image]]
The shape of the apostrophe originated in [[manuscript]] writing, as a point with a downwards tail curving clockwise. This is the form of the modern '''punctuation apostrophe''' ({{char|{{huge|’}}}}),<ref>{{cite book |title=Unicode 16.0.0 |chapter=Chapter 6 Writing Systems and Punctuation |quote=
'''Punctuation Apostrophe'''. U+2019 {{midsize|RIGHT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK}} is preferred where the character is to represent a punctuation mark, as for contractions: “We’ve been here before.” In this latter case, U+2019 is also referred to as a punctuation apostrophe. |publisher=Unicode Consortium}}</ref> (which is also known informally as the '''typeset apostrophe''', the '''typographic apostrophe''' or the '''curly apostrophe''') and of the [[right single quotation mark]]. Later [[sans-serif]] typefaces had stylised apostrophes with a more geometric or simplified form, but usually retaining the same directional bias as a closing quotation mark.

With the invention of the [[typewriter]], a "neutral" or "straight" shape quotation mark, {{char|{{huge|'}}}} (known as the "typewriter apostrophe" or the "ASCII apostrophe"), was created to represent a number of different glyphs with a single keystroke: the apostrophe, both the opening and the closing single [[quotation mark]]s, the single [[prime (symbol)|primes]], and on some typewriters even the [[exclamation point]] (by backspacing and overprinting with a period). This is known as the '''typewriter apostrophe''' or '''vertical apostrophe'''. The same convention was adopted for double [[quotation mark]]s ({{char|{{huge|"}}}}). Both simplifications carried over to computer keyboards and the [[ASCII]] character set.

== Informal use in measurement and mathematics <span class="anchor" id="Informal use in records of measurement"></span> ==
{{Further|Prime (symbol)}}
Formally, the symbol used to represent a [[Foot (unit)|foot]] of length, depth, or height, is {{char|′}} (prime) and that for the [[inch]] is {{char|″}} (double prime).<ref name="CMOS">{{cite book |title=Chicago Manual of Style |edition=17th |date=2017 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |at=§10.66}}</ref> (Thus, for example, the notation {{char|5′ 7″}} signifies 5 feet and 7 inches). Similarly, the prime symbol is the formal representation of a [[minute of arc]] (1/60 of a [[Degree (angle)|degree]] in [[geometry]] and [[geomatics]]), and double prime represents a [[second of arc]] (for example, 17°54′32″ represents 17 degrees 54 minutes and 32 seconds). Similarly in mathematics, the prime is generally used to generate more variable names for similar things without resorting to subscripts, with {{var|{{prime|x}}}} generally meaning something related to (or derived from) {{var|x}}. Because of the very close similarity of the typewriter apostrophe and typewriter double quote to prime and double prime, substitution in informal contexts is ubiquitous, but using the typewriter characters is deprecated in contexts where proper typography is important. Using the typewriter characters also risks having [[autocorrection|an automatic process]] "correct" them into punctuation-style apostrophes and quotation marks, which are less similar to the intended symbols.

== Unicode <span class="anchor" id="punctuation apostrophe"></span> ==
In its [[Unicode Standard]] (version 13.0), the [[Unicode Consortium]] describes three characters that represent apostrophe:

* {{unichar|0027|apostrophe}}: The typewriter or ASCII apostrophe. The standard remarks:
{{blockquote
| For historical reasons, U+0027 is a particularly overloaded character. In ASCII, it is used to represent a punctuation mark (such as right single quotation mark, left single quotation mark, apostrophe punctuation, vertical line, or prime) or a modifier letter (such as apostrophe modifier or acute accent). Punctuation marks generally break words; modifier letters generally are considered part of a word.<ref name="ch06.pdf" />
}}
* {{unichar|2019|right single quotation mark|nlink=Right single quotation mark}} is preferred where the character is  to represent a punctuation mark, as for contractions: "we’ve", and the code is also referred to as a '''punctuation apostrophe'''.<ref name="ch06.pdf">{{cite web |publisher=[[Unicode Consortium]] |date=March 2020 |url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode13.0.0/ch06.pdf |title=The Unicode Standard: Writing Systems and Punctuation |at=p. 270, §&nbsp;Apostrophes |access-date=18 January 2021 |archive-date=22 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122014331/http://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode13.0.0/ch06.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> The closing single quote and the apostrophe were unified in Unicode 2.1 "to correct problems in the mapping tables from [[CP1252|Windows]] and [[Mac Roman|Macintosh]] code pages."<ref>{{cite web |title=4.6 Apostrophe Semantics Errata |url=http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr8/tr8-3.html#Apostrophe%20Semantics%20Errata |access-date=19 January 2021 |archive-date=21 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120521001138/http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr8/tr8-3.html#Apostrophe%20Semantics%20Errata |url-status=live}}</ref> This can make searching text more difficult as quotes and apostrophes cannot be distinguished without context.
* {{unichar|02BC|modifier letter apostrophe}} (from Unicode block [[Spacing Modifier Letters]]) is preferred where the apostrophe is to represent a modifier letter (for example, in transliterations to indicate a glottal stop). In the latter case, it is also referred to as a [[modifier letter apostrophe|letter apostrophe]].<ref name="Unicode9.0-Chapter6" /> The letter apostrophe may be used, for example, in transliterations to represent the Arabic [[glottal stop]] (''[[hamza]]'')<ref name="Unicode9.0-Chapter6" /> or the Cyrillic "[[soft sign]]", or in some orthographies such as ''{{lang|br|cʼh}}'' of [[Breton language|Breton]],<ref name="cldr-br-alphabet">{{cite web |title=CLDR Survey Tool: Breton Core Data Alphabetic Information |url=https://st.unicode.org/cldr-apps/v#/br/Alphabetic_Information/ |website=unicode.org |access-date=7 September 2024}}</ref> where this combination is an independent [[Trigraph (orthography)|trigraph]]. [[ICANN]] considers this the proper character for [[Ukrainian alphabet|Ukrainian]] apostrophe within [[Internationalized domain name|IDNs]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://archive.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/cyrillic-vip-issues-report-06oct11-en.pdf |title="1 IDN Variant TLDs – Cyrillic Script Issues" (6 October 2011) |access-date=6 February 2017 |archive-date=13 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413093943/https://archive.icann.org/en/topics/new-gtlds/cyrillic-vip-issues-report-06oct11-en.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref> This character is rendered identically to {{tt|U+2019}} in the Unicode code charts, and the standard cautions that one should never assume this code is used in any language.<ref name="Unicode9.0-Chapter6">{{cite book |publisher=The Unicode Consortium |title=The Unicode Standard |edition=Version 9.0 |date=2016 |page=276 |chapter-url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode9.0.0/ch06.pdf |chapter=Chapter 6. Writing Systems and Punctuation. §6.2. General Punctuation |access-date=24 March 2018 |archive-date=30 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130194902/http://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode9.0.0/ch06.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Characters similar to apostrophe ===
* {{unichar|0027|apostrophe}}
* {{unichar|0060|GRAVE ACCENT}}
* {{unichar|00B4|ACUTE ACCENT}}
* {{unichar|02B9|MODIFIER LETTER PRIME}}
* {{unichar|02BB|MODIFIER LETTER TURNED COMMA}} Hawaiian ''[[{{okina}}okina]]'' and for the transliteration of Arabic and Hebrew ''[[ʻayn]]''.<ref name="Unicode9.0-NamesList">{{cite web |title=Unicode 9.0.0 final names list |url=http://unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/NamesList.txt |publisher=The Unicode Consortium |website=Unicode.org |access-date=14 February 2008 |archive-date=17 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131217221630/http://unicode.org/Public/UNIDATA/NamesList.txt |url-status=live}}</ref>
* {{unichar|02BC|modifier letter apostrophe}}
* {{unichar|02BD|MODIFIER LETTER REVERSED COMMA}}
* {{unichar|02BE|MODIFIER LETTER RIGHT HALF RING}} Arabic ''[[hamza]]'' and Hebrew ''[[alef]]''.<ref name="Unicode9.0-NamesList" />
* {{unichar|02BF|MODIFIER LETTER LEFT HALF RING}} Arabic and Hebrew ''[[ʿayin]]''.<ref name="Unicode9.0-NamesList" />
* {{unichar|02C8|MODIFIER LETTER VERTICAL LINE}} Stress accent or dynamic accent.
* {{unichar|02CA|MODIFIER LETTER ACUTE ACCENT}}
* {{unichar|02EE|MODIFIER LETTER DOUBLE APOSTROPHE}} One of two characters for glottal stop in [[Nenets languages|Nenets]].
* {{unichar|0301|COMBINING ACUTE ACCENT|cwith=◌}}
* {{unichar|0313|COMBINING COMMA ABOVE|cwith=◌}} Also known as combining Greek ''[[Smooth breathing|psili]]''.<ref name="Unicode9.0-NamesList" />
* {{unichar|0314|COMBINING REVERSED COMMA ABOVE|cwith=◌}} Also known as combining Greek ''[[Rough breathing|dasia]]''.<ref name="Unicode9.0-NamesList" />
* {{unichar|0315|COMBINING COMMA ABOVE RIGHT|cwith=◌}}
* {{unichar|0341|COMBINING ACUTE TONE MARK|cwith=◌}}
* {{unichar|0343|COMBINING GREEK KORONIS|cwith=◌}} Identical to U+0313.<ref name="Unicode9.0-NamesList" />
* {{unichar|0374|GREEK NUMERAL SIGN}} Also known as Greek ''{{transliteration|el|dexia keraia}}''.<ref name="Unicode9.0-NamesList" />
* {{unichar|0384|GREEK TONOS}}
* {{unichar|055A|ARMENIAN APOSTROPHE}}
* {{unichar|059C|HEBREW ACCENT GERESH}}
* {{unichar|059D|HEBREW ACCENT GERESH MUQDAM}}
* {{unichar|05F3|HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERESH}}
* {{unichar|1FBD|GREEK KORONIS}}
* {{unichar|1FBF|GREEK PSILI}}
* {{unichar|2018|LEFT SINGLE QUOTATION MARK}} (or turned comma, which can mark a letter's omission)<ref name="M'Culloch" />
* {{unichar|2019|right single quotation mark}}
* {{unichar|201B|SINGLE HIGH-REVERSED-9 QUOTATION MARK}}
* {{unichar|2032|PRIME|nlink=Prime (symbol)}}
* {{unichar|2035|REVERSED PRIME}}
* {{unichar|A78B|LATIN CAPITAL LETTER SALTILLO}} ''[[Saltillo (linguistics)|Saltillo]]'' of the languages of Mexico.
* {{unichar|A78C|LATIN SMALL LETTER SALTILLO}}
* {{unichar|FF07|FULLWIDTH APOSTROPHE}} [[Fullwidth form]] of the typewriter apostrophe.

== Computing ==
In modern computing practice, Unicode is the standard and default method for character encoding; however, Unicode itself and many [[legacy applications]] have echoes of earlier practices. Furthermore, the limited [[character set]] provided by [[computer keyboard]]s has also required practical and pragmatic adjustments. These issues are detailed below.

=== ASCII encoding ===
The typewriter apostrophe, {{char|'}}, was inherited by computer keyboards, and is the only apostrophe [[Character (computing)|character]] available in the (7-bit) [[ASCII]] [[character encoding]], at code value [[Hexadecimal|0x]]27 (39). In ASCII, it may be used to represent any of left single [[quotation mark]], right single quotation mark, apostrophe, vertical line or [[prime (symbol)|prime]] (punctuation marks), or an [[acute accent]] (modifier letters). In Unicode, which is a superset of ASCII, it is encoded as {{unichar|0027}}. Many earlier (pre-1985) computer displays and printers rendered the ASCII apostrophe as a punctuation apostrophe, and rendered the [[backtick]] (freestanding [[grave accent]] symbol, {{char|`}}, 0x60, 96) as a matching left single quotation mark. This allowed a more "[[typeset]]" appearance of text: <code>``I&nbsp;can't'&#39;</code> would appear as {{tt|``I&nbsp;can´t´´}} on these systems. This can still be seen in many documents prepared at that time, and is still used in the [[TeX]] typesetting system to create typographic quotes.

=== Punctuation apostrophe in 8-bit encodings ===
Support for the punctuation apostrophe (&nbsp;<span style="font-family:serif">’</span>&nbsp;) was introduced in several 8-bit character encodings, such as the original [[Classic Mac OS|Apple Macintosh]] operating system's [[Mac Roman]] character set (in 1984), and later in the [[CP1252]] encoding of [[Microsoft Windows]]. Both sets also used this code point for a closing single quote. There is no such character in [[ISO 8859-1]]. The [[Microsoft Windows]] [[Windows code page|code page]] [[CP1252]] (sometimes incorrectly called ''ANSI'' or ''ISO-Latin'') contains the punctuation apostrophe at 0x92. Due to "smart quotes" in Microsoft software converting the ASCII apostrophe to this value, other software makers have been effectively forced to adopt this as a ''de facto'' convention. For instance, the [[HTML5]] standard specifies that this value is interpreted as this character from CP1252.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/syntax.html#character-encodings-0 |title=8 The HTML syntax |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=17 December 2012 |publisher=[[World Wide Web Consortium]] |access-date=14 July 2013 |archive-date=25 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725201747/http://www.w3.org/TR/html5/syntax.html#character-encodings-0 |url-status=live}}</ref> Some earlier non-Microsoft browsers would display a '?' for this and make web pages composed with Microsoft software somewhat hard to read. In Unicode, which practically all vendors have adopted, this apostrophe is encoded as {{unichar|2019}}. The canonical name reflects the primary usage; its further use as the preferred form for an apostrophe is recorded in the database.<ref>{{cite web |title=General Punctuation {{!}} Quotation marks and apostrophe |quote=this is the preferred character to use for apostrophe |url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/nameslist/n_2000.html}}</ref>

=== Entering apostrophes ===
Although ubiquitous in typeset material, the punctuation apostrophe ({{serif|{{char|’}}}}) is rather difficult to enter on a computer, since it does not have its own key on most types of [[Computer keyboard|consumer keyboard]]. Outside the world of professional typesetting and graphic design, most people use the typewriter apostrophe ({{serif|{{char|'}}}}). Because typewriter apostrophes are now often [[Autocorrection|automatically converted]] to punctuation apostrophes by [[Word processor|word processing]] and similar software, the punctuation apostrophe routinely appears in documents produced by non-professionals (albeit sometimes incorrectly—see {{section link||Smart Quotes}} below). [[XML]] (and hence [[XHTML]]) defines an <code>&amp;apos;</code> [[character entity reference]] for the ASCII typewriter apostrophe. This entity reference is officially supported in HTML since [[HTML 5]].{{NoteTag|It is ''not'' defined in [[HTML 4]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/sgml/entities.html |title=Character entity references in HTML 4 |publisher=World Wide Web Consortium |date=24 December 1999 |access-date=15 October 2011 |archive-date=11 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100511050448/http://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-html401-19991224/sgml/entities.html |url-status=live}}</ref> despite all the other predefined character entities from XML being defined.}}

=== Smart quotes ===
To make punctuation apostrophes easier to enter, [[word processing]] and publishing software often convert typewriter apostrophes to punctuation apostrophes during text entry (at the same time converting opening and closing single and double quotes to their standard left-handed or right-handed forms). A similar facility may be offered on web servers after submitting text in a form field, e.g. on weblogs or free encyclopedias. This is known as the ''smart quotes'' feature; apostrophes and quotation marks that are not automatically altered by computer programs are known as ''dumb quotes''.

Such conversion is not always correct. Smart quotes features often incorrectly convert a leading apostrophe to an opening quotation mark (e.g., in abbreviations of years: ''<span style="font-family: serif">‘</span>29'' rather than the correct ''<span style="font-family:serif">’</span>29'' for the years ''1929'' or ''2029'' (depending on context); or ''<span style="font-family: serif">‘</span>twas'' instead of ''<span style="font-family: serif">’</span>twas'' as the [[archaism|archaic]] abbreviation of ''it was''). Smart quote features also often fail to recognise situations when a [[prime (symbol)|prime]] rather than an apostrophe is needed; for example, incorrectly rendering the latitude 49°&nbsp;{{prime|53}}&nbsp;08″ as 49°&nbsp;53<span style="font-family: serif">’</span>&nbsp;08<span style="font-family: serif">”</span>.

In [[Microsoft Word]], it is possible to turn smart quotes off (in some versions, by navigating through ''Tools'', ''AutoCorrect'', ''AutoFormat as you type'', and then unchecking the appropriate option). Alternatively, typing Control-Z (for ''Undo'') immediately after entering the apostrophe will convert it back to a typewriter apostrophe. In Microsoft Word for Windows, holding down the Control key while typing two apostrophes will produce a single punctuation apostrophe.

=== Programming ===
Some programming languages, like [[Pascal (programming language)|Pascal]], use the ASCII apostrophe to delimit [[string literal]]s. In many languages, including [[JavaScript]], [[ECMAScript]], and [[Python (programming language)|Python]], either the apostrophe or the double quote may be used, allowing string literals to contain the other character (but not to contain both without using an [[escape character]]), e.g. <code>foo='He said "Bar!"';</code>. Strings delimited with apostrophes are often called ''single quoted''. Some languages, such as [[Perl]], [[PHP]], and many shell languages, treat single quoted strings as "raw" strings, while double quoted strings have expressions (such as <code>"$variable"</code>) replaced with their values when interpreted.

The [[C (programming language)|C programming language]] (and many [[List of C-family programming languages|derived languages]] like [[C++]], [[Java (programming language)|Java]], [[C Sharp (programming language)|C#]], and [[Scala (programming language)|Scala]]) uses apostrophes to delimit a [[character literal]]. In these languages a character is a different object than a one-letter string. In [[C++]], since [[C++14]], apostrophes can be included as optional digit separators in numeric literals. In [[Visual Basic]] (and earlier Microsoft BASIC dialects such as QuickBASIC) an apostrophe is used to denote the start of a comment.{{NoteTag|As a comment character in MS BASIC, the apostrophe is in most cases an abbreviation of the REM statement, which can be appended to the end of almost any line with a colon (:). The cases where the apostrophe is not an abbreviation for <code>REM</code> would be those where the apostrophe is allowed but a REM statement is not. Note that there are also cases of the reverse constraint; for example, in QuickBASIC, a comment at the end of a DATA statement line cannot start with an apostrophe but must use <code>: REM</code>.}} In the [[Lisp (programming language)|Lisp]] family of programming languages, an apostrophe is shorthand for the <code>quote</code> operator. In [[Rust (programming language)|Rust]], in addition to being used to delimit a character literal, an apostrophe can start an explicit [[Object lifetime|lifetime]].

== See also ==
* {{annotated link|Apologetic apostrophe}}
* [[Backtick]]
* [[Caron]] ("Hacek")
* [[Contraction (grammar)]]
* [[Genitive case]]
* [[Modifier letter double apostrophe]]
* [[Possessive case]]

== Notes and references ==

=== Notes ===
{{NoteFoot}}

=== References ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{cite book |last=Truss |first=Lynne |author-link=Lynne Truss |date=2003 |title-link=Eats, Shoots & Leaves |title=Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation |location=London |publisher=Profile Books |isbn=1861976127}}

<!--
Please read [[WP:ELNO]] before adding external links. If an external link has an item that is essential to this article, then update the article rather than have a ragbag of links.
-->
{{Navbox punctuation}}
{{Navbox diacritical marks}} <!-- Apostrophe is used as diacritic in some languages. Not to be confused with acute accent. -->

[[Category:English orthography]]
[[Category:Hebrew diacritics]]
[[Category:Latin-script diacritics]]
[[Category:Punctuation]]