WRT333
Apostrophe, quotation marks, brackets, ellipsis
Links this page: apostrophe | quotations | other
Note: This page is based on Fowler and Aaron (2001)
The Apostrophe
The apostrophe ( ' ) is a punctuation mark that appears as part of a word to indicate possession, the omission of one or more letters, or sometimes a plural number.
Possessive case for nouns and indefinite pronouns: Ownership or possession is shown with an of phrase (a favorite of the girl) or with the addition of an apostrophe and (usually) an -s (the girl's favorite).
| Singular | Plural |
|---|---|
| Mr. Anderson's | the Andersons' |
| everyone's | three months' |
| dog's | dogs' |
Apostrophes are easy to misuse. Check to be sure that every word ending in -s neither omits a needed apostrophe nor adds an unneeded one. Also, because the apostrophe (or, apostrophe+s) is an addition, spell the name of the owner/owners without dropping or adding letters; girls becomes girls', not girl's.
Singular nouns and indefinite pronouns: Add - 's, including to singular nouns that end in -s. Sam Rooster's cartoon antics amused the audience. Los Angeles's smog is notorious. Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings's The Yearling is a classic of children's literature.
Do not add an apostrophe to present-tense verbs usedd with he, she, it, and other third-person singular subjects. These verbs always end in -s, but never with an apostrophe. Not "my car break's down," but "my car breaks down."
His, hers, its, ours, yours, theirs, and whose are possessive pronouns; they take no apostrophes.
Standard contractions: Use an apostrophe to indicate omitted letters. it's (it is), he's (he is), she's (she is), they're (they are), you're (you are), who's (who is), let's (let us), doesn't (does not), weren't (were not), class of '09 (class of 2009), o'clock (of the clock), ma'am (madam). Avoid contractions in formal writing.
Optional apostrophes: Use apostrophes with most plural abbreviations that contain periods; with unpunctuated abbreations, you can omit the apostrophe. Ph.D.'s, B.A.'s, BAs, CDs.
Plural abbreviations for meansurements do not take an apostrophe. ins., gals., lbs.
The apostrophe for years in a decade is optional: 1990s or 1990's.
Quotations
Direct quotations: "Ask not what your country can do for you," said JFK.
Quotation within quotation: Use single quotes within double quotes. Woody Allen wrote "Descartes hinted at the problem when he wrote, 'My mind can never know my body, although it has become quite friendly with my leg.' " (note single-double quotes at end of sentence).
Quotation marks with other punctuation marks:
- Commas and periods: Place commas and periods inside quotation marks. Exception, if a citation immediately follows the quotation, place the ending punctuation after the citation. The centuries-old pine species was characterized as "etherial" (Olmstead 1889).
- Colons and semicolons: Place these outside quotation marks.
- Dashes, question marks: Dashes, question marks, or exclamations that are part of a quotation are included inside the quotation marks, with no other punctuation (e.g., no additional comma or period). When a dash, question mark, or exclamation point applies only to the larger sentence, not the quotation, place it outside the quotation. Who said, "I have but one life to give for my country"?
Other Punctuation Marks
The dash: The long dash, also called a 2-em dash, is used to indicate sudden changes in tone or thought and to set off some sentence elements. (Note: In MSWord, use CNTL-0151 (hold down the control key and type the four numbers 0-1-5-1) to form a 2-em dash, and CNTL-0150 for a shorter 1-em dash.
Use a long dash to indicate a break in thought. The dean had a great idea—or one of his underlings did.
Use a dash or dashes to emphasize nonessential elements.
- Use a dash to give greatest emphasis. The faculty—all of the faculty—took exception to the President's demeaning tone.
- Use commas to give less emphasis. The students, although living on campus, attended the pep rally in dismal numbers.
- Parentheses give the least emphasis. The staff (many of them in the union for years) voted to turn down the new contract.
Parentheses: Parentheses surround expressions that include explanations, digressions, and examples that may be helpful or interesting but are nonessential.
Use parentheses to enclose labels (e.g., a.), 1.) for lists within sentences.
Brackets: Brackets, [ ], within quotations indicate your own comments or changes. The use, [sic] indicates that you are correctly quoting errors in the original.
Elipsis: Elipsis, ... , usually indicates omission from a quotation, or an interruption in a dialog. She turned to him and said, "I was only asking whether..." and then she saw the blood. An elipsis at the end of a sentence is followed by a period, thusly ....
Reference
- H. Ramsey Fowler and Jane E. Aaron. 2001. The LIttle, Brown Handbook. 8th ed. Longman. 968 p.