Grammar and Language Workbook

Unit 12, Punctuation 251

Copyright © by Glencoe/McGraw-Hill

Mechanics

Lesson 80

Apostrophes

Use an apostrophe and an s(‘s) to form the possessive of a singular noun.

boy + ’s= boy’s horse + ’s= horse’s

Use an apostrophe and an s(‘s) to form the possessive of a plural noun that does

not end in s.

children + ’s= children’s sheep + ’s= sheep’s

Use an apostrophe alone to form the possessive of a plural noun that ends in s.

monkeys + ’= monkeys’ libraries + ’= libraries’

Do not use an apostrophe in a possessive pronoun.

His dad baked the cake. Ours made the cookies.

Use an apostrophe to replace letters that have been omitted in a contraction.

there is = there’s cannot = can’t

Exercise 1 Add apostrophes where needed. Write Cif the sentence is correct.

Blackbeard’s name is an infamous one in history.

C 1. His real name was Edward Teach.

2. Blackbeard commanded the Queen Anne’s Revenge.


3. Blackbeard’s cruelty was legendary.


4. His men’s hearts were filled with fear of their captain.
   C 5. Theirs was a hard and dangerous life.
   C 6. Many books have been written about Blackbeard and other pirates.


5. Some pirates’treasures have never been found.
   C 8. Each pirate crew’s code was to share treasure equally.


6. It’s not true that many pirates had to walk the plank.
   C 10. What’s more likely is that many were marooned on islands.


7. Sometimes women put on men’s clothing and ran away to sea.