Apostrophes
Apostrophes show up on the ACT English exam fairly often. That’s good news for you! Learning how to use an apostrophe on the ACT is simple. Here’s what you need to know.
Apostrophes have two jobs
Apostrophes do two things you need to remember:
- They make nouns possessives
- They turn words into contractions
Possessive apostrophes
Here’s how to use apostrophes to make nouns possessive.
How to make regular nouns possessive
To make a regular noun possess something (or own something), we simply add “apostrophe + s” to the end of the noun.
Examples
- The teacher’s desk
- The chemist’s burner
- The actress’s script
If there is more than one “thing” that is possessive, we add “s + apostrophe.”
Examples
- The teachers’ desk
- The chemists’ burner
- The actresses’ script
(Note that the “s” in the plural possessive form is simply to make the noun plural, so in “actress” we actually had to add “-es”).
Check out the summary below that will help you remember the two possessive apostrophe rules on test day.
Contraction apostrophes
When we write or speak, there are pairs of words we repeat a lot (have not, I am, we are, etc). Over time, we’ve found ways to shorten them.
These shortened word pairs are called contractions.
Wherever the “chop” is, we put an apostrophe.
Example
- Have not = Haven’t
- I am = I’m
- We are = We’re
That’s almost all there is to using apostrophes, aside from these notable exceptions:
Sometimes the two apostrophe rules (possession and contractions) collide together on the ACT. This happens when something needs to be contracted and is also possessive:
He’s always equals he is because we invented the word his for when he needs to be possessive.
A notable instance of this is the word “its” or “it’s” because we don’t have another word for this one. In this one case, the presence of the “s” alone shows possession, but when it has an apostrophe with it, “it’s” always means “it is.” Because the word “it” is always singular, you will never, ever, ever, ever have the word its’ as the correct answer on the ACT English.
Because you’re bound to encounter “it’s/its” questions on the ACT English, we made a separate chapter (see It’s and its) that covers the concept in more depth.
Apostrophe exercise
Here’s the way you’ll see apostrophes on the ACT English test.
I saw dolphins leap from the oceans blue surface.
A. NO CHANGE
B. oceans’ blue
C. oceans blue’s
D. ocean’s blue
These are the steps you use to answer the ACT apostrophe questions correctly. Think of these steps as a checklist you can use on apostrophe questions.
- Determine if the word with an apostrophe is a contraction or showing possession
- If it isn’t a contraction, determine what the word is possessing
- Finally, determine if the apostrophe belongs on the left or right of the “s.”
Let’s first figure out if this question is quizzing us on contraction apostrophes or possession apostrophes. The best way to do that is to ask yourself this: Is the word that has an apostrophe combining two words? Y/N
Go ahead and take a look at these options.
A. NO CHANGE
B. oceans’ blue
C. oceans blue’s
D. ocean’s blue
Are the words that have an apostrophe combining two words or not?
No, they do not combine words.
Now that we know that, let’s use step two and determine what the word is possessing, or showing ownership of. To do that, we’ll have to take a wider view of the sentence.
By “take a wider view,” we mean to look at the entire sentence and not just the answer options.
So, let’s take a look at the entire sentence.
I saw dolphins leap from the oceans blue surface.
A. NO CHANGE
B. oceans’ blue
C. oceans blue’s
D. ocean’s blue
Now that we can see the sentence in its entirety, we know that “ocean" is the word showing possession. Since “ocean” is the word showing possession, we need an apostrophe after it.
This means we can eliminate options A and C, since there is no apostrophe in A, and in C the apostrophe is put after the word “blue.”
So, all we have to do now is use Step 3 to determine if the apostrophe belongs on the left or right of the “s.”
We do that by asking ourselves: is there one ocean in the sentence or more than one ocean?
If there’s just one ocean, we’ll add “apostrophe + s” at the end of the word (ocean’s). If there’s more than one, we’ll add “s + apostrophe” (oceans’).
Which one do you think it is? “ocean’s” or “oceans’” ?
Answer: ocean’s. A person can usually only see dolphins jump from one ocean at a time. So, since the base word is “ocean,” we just add an apostrophe + s to the word.
Well done! You now know how to use the apostrophe appropriately on the ACT English test.
There are three primary things you need to remember come test day: what an apostrophe does (it either shows possession or makes a contraction), and the ACT apostrophe checklist.
Now that you know how to use an apostrophe, complete the practice questions to make sure you’re ready when test day comes.
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