Punctuation marks are essential in writing even though we don’t speak them. Thus, it is important to know how to use them correctly. Here are the 5 brief discussions to avoid the erroneous use of an apostrophe.
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With Plurals
The most common error occurred when writing the plural form of a noun in which an apostrophe precedes the plural s, such as taxi’s instead of taxis, is an error.
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With Pronouns
Possessive pronouns do not include apostrophes. Here are some examples of sound-alike contractions and possessive pronouns:
It’s/Its
There’s / Theirs
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With Shared Possession
When two or more people or entities share possession, only the last name should be in the possessive form: “Jake and Jenny’s house is just there”, but when they are described as separately owning something, both name should be in possessive form: “Jake’s and Jenny’s shirts are the same color”.
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With the Plural Form of an Abbreviation
The apostrophe is not required in plurals of abbreviations. Write, for example, “Eclipse and NETbean” are both programming Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) (not IDE’s).
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With the Plural Form of a Numeral
When we need to indicate the plural of a numeral, an apostrophe is not needed. “Write two 2s on a sheet of paper” (not 4’s).