Apostrophe Usage - It’s A Blast!
19 April 2008
On the English keyboard, the apostrophe is located two keys to the right of the “L”. Here are three things to note regarding apostrophes:
To Demonstrate Possession
When a noun is said to possess something, the noun needs to be given an apostrophe.
Example: The dog’s bone is brown.
A good way to determine if the noun needs to be possessive, is to turn the phrase around and add “of the”.
Example: The bone of the dog is brown.
So let’s look at a sentence with an “of” phrase. Can you see how to turn it into a possessive?
Example: The stomach of Mike doesn’t feel well.
The correct way to turn this into a possessive is:
Mike’s stomach doesn’t feel well.
Now that we know when to add an apostrophe, it is important to talk about how to add an apostrophe. In almost all cases, ‘s should be added to make the subject possessive. However, one exception is when the noun is plural and ends in an -s. In this case, do not add an apostrophe as well as an -s, simply add just the apostrophe.
Example: Those horses’ trailer is old.
Another example: The four friends’ dishes were identical.
Some people are tricked when adding an apostrophe to a singular noun that ends in -s. It is important to note that not all nouns that end in -s simply receive an apostrophe. Singular nouns that end in -s receive ’s.
Example: Chris’s hat is blue.
Contractions
Perhaps the most common use for apostrophes is to indicate the omission of letters when a contraction is being used. Using an apostrophe in this manner is relatively simple. Here are some examples:
Let us = Let’s
Do not = Don’t
Need not = Needn’t
Should not = Shouldn’t
1940 = ‘40
She will = She’ll
In written language, contractions aren’t terribly efficient. In other words, it takes about an equal amount of time to write “let us” as it does “let’s”. However, contracts are very efficient in spoken language. Often they serve as a way of reducing two words each with one syllable into one, one syllable word.
No Apostrophes For Pronouns
Since possessive pronouns already indicate possession, one needn’t use an apostrophe with them. The most commonly used possessive pronouns are its, my, his, her, yours, and ours.
Incorrect: There is something on his’ face.
Correct: There is something on his face.
Incorrect: The leaf fell from it’s branch.
Correct: The leaf fell from its branch.
The possessive pronoun its can give people a lot of trouble. Since the same word is used as a contraction for “it is”, it can be easy to add an apostrophe to the possessive pronoun its. It is only correct to do this when contracting the words “it is” to spell “it’s”.
Helpful ESL Resource
12 April 2008
This post is dedicated to my favorite learn english, 1-language. It contains flash quizzes, games, and a useful forums. The site has been around for many years, and has helped quite a few people to learn english.
Textbook Reading Aids
6 October 2007
Table of Contents
This part will give you an overview of topics of the book. It is located at the beginning of the book. Included are Chapters, Titles and subtopics and the number of pages of the book.
Preface or Introduction
This part states the author’s purpose and writing the book. Most of the time the author states information about the book that gives the reader grasp what are the gist to be extracted upon reading.
Index
This part is located at the back of the book where you can easily find information due to all is listed alphabetically including the pages where you will find such information.
Appendix
This page serves as a reference. Located at the back of the book where list, charts, documents and other materials related to the subject of the book.
Bibliography
This is the part where the author extracted some of the ideas stated in the book. This page contains list of other books, articles and other sources the author basis in writing the book. This is also useful in making further reading about the book.
Using the SQ4R Method
Survey
You need to preview the reading material you are going to read. In the preview, you should include the following: chapter title, topics and subtopics, introduction and the questions or exercises to be done afterwards.
Question
Under this, you should use the following: who, what, where, when, why and how. Turn the heading and subheadings into questions. You will get the information you are trying to extract by using this question.
Read
Read comprehensively to locate all the possible answers to all the questions posted above.
Recite
One thing for you to familiarize the questions and the possible answers is by reciting it orally or mentally.
Record
Jot down all the information to further reinforce your thesis. List down the main idea and supporting detail for future references.
Review
You need to review the material to permanently inculcate it into your mind. Use all the steps above.
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