There are many times when writing an essay that I get scared and a little nervous that my grammar wont be or isn't good. I just recently had an example of this is. Last night I submitted my paper to the writing center online, I am pretty sure I didn't use the correct grammar. I got a little nervous that they might read my email and not want to actually read my essay...haha The issue wasn't if the correct word was used or where to put the comma, it was, where does the apostrophe go? I have always had trouble with those little guys.
In the St. Martin Guide to Writing, it helps us determine where and when to put them. There are many options you can choose from, but the ones I am going to tell you are the ones I have the most trouble with. One option is to place the apostrophe so that it marks the possessive form of nouns and some pronouns. First you have to distinguish though if it is a singular noun (one item) or a plural (two or more items). Some examples are...a student's parents, the cat's tail, Katie's essay. These show who has the possession. Be careful where you place the apostrophes you don't want the reader to mistake your word for a plural noun instead of a singular one; it can completely change the entire outlook of your sentence. An example of this can be, The apartment's design lacks softening curves to tame the bare walls. If the apostrophe had been placed after the s it would mean more the one apartment looked that way.
A lot of people have trouble, including me, when or if you place apostrophes in personal pronouns. When you are using possessive forms of personal pronouns you don't need to put an 's in words such as, yours, its, hers, his, ours, theirs, etc. It's a common mistake too make.
Hopefully as we continue to writing we will be able to find where these tricky little apostrophes go, and not them get to the best of us.
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