Apostrophes: Apostrophes are used to indicate possession--"Professor
Lupton's lecture" or "Odysseus' courage." The "lecture" belongs to "Professor
Lupton" and the "courage" belongs to "Odysseus." With singular nouns possession
is shown by adding apostrophe plus s. With plural nouns or nouns,
like "Odysseus," that already end in -s, the apostrophe follows
the final s.
For more complicated situations consult Writing from A to Z.
An important exception: The most frequently made mistake is to
confuse its (with no apostrophe) and it's (with an apostrophe).
Its,
without
the apostrophe, is possessive, an exception to the general rule. It's,
with the apostrophe, is the contraction for it is.
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