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25Put the Apostrophe in Its Place

Is this Uncle Jack’s pen? All the purple pens’ caps are loose. Where did Jim, Jack, and Jason’s pen go? How did Jim’s, Jack’s, and Jason’s pens perform?

There are so many apostrophes, but just a few rules. In general, the apostrophe is used in these six ways:

#1: When you want a singular noun to express ownership, use the apostrophe to hold the s in place. For example:

• Singular noun: Bob

• What he owns: Happiness

• How to use the apostrophe: Jane basked in Bob’s happiness

• Test: Does the word of express what you want to say? As in “the happiness of Bob”?

#2: When you want to express plural ownership, because the plural of most English nouns ends with an s, place the apostrophe at the end. For example:

• The ...