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Apostrophe Roundup

August 12, 2014

Yee-haw! It's (not "its") an apostrophe roundup!

August 15, 2014, is International Apostrophe Day! This tiny but important punctuation mark can be seen all over the Internet lately in social media images mocking its (not 'it's') misuse. English language learners (not to mention native speakers) often have trouble using this little guy correctly. In honor of this holiday and in the hopes of lessening the confusion over this diminutive mark, I've rounded up all the posts I've written on this topic into one place. ESL Library also has a NEW lesson in our Writing section: How to Use an Apostrophe. Students learn and practice using apostrophes correctly, and they see many examples of common errors. In my opinion, all textbooks should include a helpful lesson like this!

Possessives

Forming the Possessive of Words Ending in -S

Commonly Confused Words

Teaching Tips on It's and Its, Teaching Tips on They're, Their, and There, Teaching Tips on You’re and Your, Teaching Tips: Who's Vs. Whose

Holidays

When to Write “New Year’s”, “New Year”, and “new year”, Valentine’s Day Capitalization and Punctuation Rules, Saint Patrick's or St. Patrick's? Paddy or Patty?, April Fools’ Day Capitalization and Punctuation Rules, Happy Beatles Day! (Or Is It Beatles' Day?)

For Us Canucks

Tim Hortons, Hortons', or Horton's? Donut or Doughnut?

Practice

How to Use an Apostrophe  

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