Kevin
December 16, 2021
Common Questions

Do you know what apostrophe is? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on apostrophe, including its definition, usage, example sentences, and more!

What is apostrophe?

According to Ginger and Literary Devices, the word apostrophe is both a punctuation mark and a rhetorical or literary device. As a punctuation mark, an apostrophe has many uses. Remember that in most cases, plurals do not contain apostrophes. Apostrophes can be used to create contracted verbs by omission of a letter or more. These are also used for possession. They are often mistakenly used to form plural nouns from singular nouns as well as with pronouns. The word apostrophe comes from the Greek apostrophos/Greek apóstrophos, from apo and stréphein/strephein, from the verbid of apostréphein, earlier apostrophus and strophe according to Merriam-Webster. It can also be used as a mark of elision. A few examples of possessive apostrophe are Mary’s dress, the girls’ club, John’s book, or Shakespeare’s work.

As a literary device, apostrophe is a poetic phrase or speech made by a character that is addressed to a subject that is not literally present in the literary work. This could be an abstract idea, a dead or absent person, or an inanimate object. This is used so a character can express their internal thoughts, emotions and feelings. These can be used in everyday speech, and are a figure of speech commonly used in literary apostrophe as well for dramatic effect and to show importance of the object..

What are examples of apostrophe?

Apostrophe can be used in many different contexts in the English language. Trying to use a word or literary technique in a sentence is one of the best ways to memorize what it is, but you can also try making flashcards or quizzes that test your knowledge. Try using this term of the day in a sentence today! Below are a couple of examples of apostrophe that can help get you started incorporating this tool into your everyday use. Take a look at these apostrophe examples from Literary Devices and Kids Konnect and see how many you can say! Some of them are quite a challenge. Others are from famous authors and writers.

Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are. (Jane Taylor)

Hello darkness, my old friend / I’ve come to talk with you again

Little Red Corvette / You need a love that’s gonna last

“Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy” (Hamlet)

Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone / without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own

Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race. (A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce)

Seven, you are my lucky number!

Heaven help us.

O Death, where is thy sting?

Hey, hey, set me free / Stupid Cupid stop picking on me

O holy night! The stars are brightly shining! (Adolphe Adam)

Chocolate, why must you be so delicious?

O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth. (Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene I)

Love, who needs you?

Don’t tell my heart, my achy breaky heart / I just don’t think he’d understand

It’s up to you / New York, New York

Come on phone, give me a ring!

“Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend, more hideous when thou show’st thee in a child than the sea-monster!” (King Lear)

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree / How lovely are thy branches

“O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” (Romeo and Juliet)

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it! (The Holy Bible, Luke 13:34)

“Is this a dagger which I see before me, the handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee. I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.” (Macbeth)

Then come, sweet death, and rid me of this grief. (Queen Isabel in Edward II by Christopher Marlowe)

Thank you, my guardian angel, for this parking space!

Alarm clock, please don’t fail me.

Well, the big black horse said “Look this way” He said, “Hey lady, will you marry me?” But I said “No, no, no, no, no, no” I said “No, no, you’re not the one for me”

Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean – roll! (The Ocean by Lord Byron)

Oh Charles, Prince Charles, can you hear my heart break / Can you hear me telling you, marrying her is a big mistake

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star / How I wonder what you are

What are other literary techniques and devices?

There are many different literary and grammatical techniques and devices that you might see when you are reading prose or poetry. It is important to recognize these devices because they are always used for some purpose. Knowing these devices can help readers understand the author’s deeper meaning and why they are using such a device. Take a look at the below list of literary devices from Reedsy and see how many you know! Then try researching ones that are unfamiliar to you.

Metaphor

Personification

Zoomorphism

Hypophora

Flashback

Oxymoron

Paradox

Juxtaposition

Cumulative sentence

Tone

Litotes

Archetype

Aphorism

Onomatopoeia

Repetition

Dramatic irony

Anachronism

Colloquialism

Anaphora

Euphemism

Malapropism

Satire

Tmesis

In Medias Res

Polysyndeton

Synecdoche

Hyperbole

Anthropomorphism

Symbolism

Exposition

Anastrophe

Point of view

Frame story

Isocolon

Motif

Allegory

Imagery

Soliloquy

Simile

Tragicomedy

Tautology

Foreshadowing

Metonymy

Chiasmus

Allusion

Irony

Overall, the word apostrophe means a form of an address to a personified object or subject that is absent, often used in second person. The pronunciation of apostrophe is əˈpɒstrəfɪ. This is also a small punctuation mark; the purpose of an apostrophe is varied.

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