’Tis Time to Look at Punctuation

By Annette Rey

While using Facebook I became aware of many people attempting to write English when it is not their primary language. Constructing sentences is difficult for them. I have great admiration for these budding authors. They are my inspiration for writing this basic instruction for those who need this kind of help.

To indicate a letter or letters are missing – when you shorten two words, an apostrophe is needed. A few examples are below:

Do not = don’t

Is not = isn’t

Should not = shouldn’t

I am = I’m

It is = it’s

It is = ’tis

Until = ’til

To show possession, an apostrophe is needed, followed by an s, at the end of the noun. Sentence examples are below:

The dog’s sweater fit him nicely.

Manfred’s girlfriend works at the factory.

To show possession in the case of a word that already ends in s, add an apostrophe after the last s, as in:

We took a carriage ride on St. Louis’ riverfront.

Arkansas’ state laws are front page news this week.

Julie likes Phyllis’ hairstyle.