Use of Apostrophe

Apostrophe  _{countable noun}

a)   A mark (') used to show that letters or numbers are absent.

I'm (I am) hungry.

I was born in '01 ('01= 2001).

Tell 'em to go. ('em =them).

You're my only friend. ('re=are).

b)  A punctuation mark (') used before the letter ‘s’ to show that something belongs to someone or something.

I drove my brother's car.

This is Sabera's father.

c)   To make plural forms of letters (A, B, C…) or digits (1, 2, 3….) etc.

“A man is waiting there for father.”

How many A's are there in the sentence?

                 Ans.: There are four A’s in the sentence.

5035505+5355055=?

Omit all the 5's and replace them with 3's from the above sum.

3033303+3333033=?

d)  To make plurals of abbreviations:

There are three MBA's in our college.

Two MBBS' have been appointed.

USE:

We use an apostrophe ('):

i)     for missing letters:

Don't disturb me please!

(Do not. Here,  o = '   i.e. not=n't)

I'll call you. 
It's (it is) my bag.

ii)            for possessives:

Rakib's bike              Sanjida’s flip-flop (sandal)

Note: Words ending in s don't need another s when used with an apostrophe.

i)     James' house is there.

ii)  Dhanmondi Girls' School is a very good school.

iii)   Future Boys' School and College is the best institution in Dhaka.

j¶¨ K‡ivt

GwU GKwU Mvwo| GwUi is jvj|

G evK¨ `yÕ‡Uv‡Z ÔGwUÕ Ges ÔGwUiÕ A_© I e¨envi wKš‘ Avjv`v| wb‡Pi Bs‡iwR evK¨¸‡jv cot

It's (it is) a car. Its (of it) colour is red.

Again,

Mr. Habib's (Habib is) a teacher. Rbve nvwee (n‡”Qb) GKRb wk¶K|

Mr. Habib's (of Habib-nvwe‡ei) father's (father is) a teacher too. Rbve nvwe‡ei evevI GKRb wk¶K|

GLb cÖkœ n‡”Q wKfv‡e eyS‡ev KLb Habib's (Habib is) Ges Habib's (of Habib - nvwe‡ei)?

hLb ('s) hy³ Noun or Pronoun Gi ci GKwU article/adjective/not _vK‡e, ZLb eyS‡Z n‡e A¨vcmUªwdi ci †Kv‡bv verb Gi A¶i Dn¨ iƒ‡c Av‡Q| †hgbt

         He's a doctor. (He is)                 He's not a doctor. (He is)

         He's sad. (He is)               He's not sad. (He is)

Again,

hLb ('s) hy³ Noun or Pronoun Gi ci GKwU preposition _vK‡e, ZLb eyS‡Z n‡e A¨vcmUªwdi Av‡M †Kv‡bv verb Gi A¶i Dn¨ iƒ‡c Av‡Q|

         He's in the bus. (He is)

         She's out there. (She is)

BUT,

hLb ('s) hy³ Noun or Pronoun Gi ci Av‡iKwU noun _vK‡e, ZLb eyS‡Z n‡e A¨vcmUªwd hy³ kãwU w`‡q AwaKvi ev gvwjKvbv †evSv‡bv n‡q‡Q (of+noun)| †hgbt

Habib's father a teacher. (Habib's father = the father of Habib)

Shaon's mobile set is not working. (the mobile set of Shaon)

Look at the following table:

Wrong	Right
This is the house of my father.	This is my father's house.
My school's name is ABC.	The name of my school is ABC.
The colour of it is red.	Its colour is red.
I have pain in the back of mine.	I have pain in my back.
This is the pen of Mr. Hasib.	This is Mr. Hasib's pen.
The handwriting of Nusaiba is bad.	Nusaiba's handwriting is bad.
I am the neighbour of Hasib.	I am Hasib's neighbour.
Delete all the seven B.	Delete all the seven B's.
All the BA will be called.	All the BA's will be called.

Listen and pronounce the following contractions where apostrophe has been used:

I'm = I am                       You're=You are             He's= He is

We're= We are               They're=They are          It's= It is

I've= I have                    He's= He has                  She's= She has

Isn’t= is not                    hasn’t= has not              haven’t = have not

It’ll=it will                      you’re=you were           I’d= I had or I would

‡bvUt A‡bK mgq apostrophe (') sign-wU‡K A‡b‡K (‘) or ( Õ ) w`‡q _v‡Kb| cÖK…Zc‡¶ sign-wU (') GiKg|

Apostrophes used in the TEXT book of class V:

1.     students' curiosity

2.     she's going

3.     don't worry

4.     patient's room

5.     doesn't like/mind

6.     Sheep's in the meadow.

7.     Cow's in the corn.

8.     You're welcome.

9.     at the doctor's

10. I'm Mariam.

11. I'll do that.

12. It's 01675553590

13. friend's bicycle

14. it's going

15. hasn't come

16. You've made a mistake.

17. It's not possible.

18. We're fine.

19. Let's start now. (Let’s= Let us)

20. Haven't you?

21. What's this?

22. Cox's Bazar

23. No, he isn't.

24. You're right.

25. a month's fasting

26. Shihab's sister

27. I'll come.

28. New Year's Day

29. We'll go tomorrow.

30. 9 o'clock (Here O means Zero. And 9 o'clock means at exactly 9, i.e. 9+zero second. Or in other words, at sharp 9)

31. I'm Seema’s friend.

32.                   That's your pencil.

Practice: Read the following text and underline the words where apostrophes (') have been used:

My name's Ayesha Siddika. I'm a student. The name of my school is Future Girls' School. The Headmaster's a very good person. He joined at this school in '02. There're many good teachers at this institution. We go to school by students' bus.

Exercise: Which words show the missing letters or numbers and which words show possessions/ownership/relation with someone. The first two are done for you:

He's my brother.	Missing letter ( He's = He is)
He is my father's friend.	Relation with someone (father’s = of father) evevi
He died in '02.
It's a girls' school.
This is Peter's house.
She's my father's sister.
Tell 'em to go upstairs.
It's its part.
It’s o'er there.	It is over there. (o'er=over)

Note: It’s = it is : It’s black = It is black.

          Its = of it : Its colour is black.

I LOVE apostrophe (')

BECAUSE

It’ll give me a trophy.