Apostrophes Meaning: What It Is and How To Use It

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

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What is an 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. Apostrophes are used to show possession, or to create possessives, possessive forms, or the possessive case. However, possessive pronouns do not contain apostrophes. Apostrophes can be used to form the singular possessive or the possessive plural. They are also used for abbreviations. They can even be used to indicate plurals of abbreviations!

The word apostrophe originates from the Latin apostrophē, Late Latin apostrophus, and Greek apostrophos or the Greek apóstrophos, from the Greek apo and stréphein/strephein, which formed apostrephein. This comes from the verbid of apostréphein, as well as earlier apostrophus and strophe according to Merriam-Webster. It can also be used as a mark of elision. This has been used since c16. As a literary device, apostrophe is a form of an address to an abstract idea, a personified object, a dead or absent person, or an inanimate object. This could also be considered a form of digression. Be sure to consult style guides if you are unsure of how to use an apostrophe for the omission of letters or for possession. It can get tricky when there is a compound noun involved.

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. 

  • Alarm clock, please don’t fail me.
  • Chocolate, why must you be so delicious?
  • Hey, hey, set me free / Stupid Cupid stop picking on me
  • Heaven help us.
  • O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth. (Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene I)
  • Don’t tell my heart, my achy breaky heart / I just don’t think he’d understand
  • 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)
  • John’s father released the mice.
  • He lives just o’er  the hill.
  • “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)
  • ‘Twas a difficult year.
  • Little Red Corvette / You need a love that’s gonna last
  • Love, who needs you?
  • 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)
  • “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio: a fellow of infinite jest, of most excellent fancy” (Hamlet)
  • O holy night! The stars are brightly shining! (Adolphe Adam)
  • Come on phone, give me a ring!
  • 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”
  • Seven, you are my lucky number!
  • It’s up to you / New York, New York
  • Oh Charles, Prince Charles, can you hear my heart break / Can you hear me telling you, marrying her is a big mistake
  • Roll on, thou deep and dark blue Ocean – roll! (The Ocean by Lord Byron)
  •  He plans to work for gov’t services.
  • Then come, sweet death, and rid me of this grief. (Queen Isabel in Edward II by Christopher Marlowe)
  • O Death, where is thy sting?
  • Thank you, my guardian angel, for this parking space!
  • Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone / without a dream in my heart, without a love of my own
  • Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star / How I wonder what you are
  • “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?” (Romeo and Juliet)
  • O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree / How lovely are thy branches
  • 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
  • “Ingratitude, thou marble-hearted fiend, more hideous when thou show’st thee in a child than the sea-monster!” (King Lear)

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. 

  •  Zoomorphism
  •  Anachronism
  •  Point of view
  •  Aphorism
  •  Juxtaposition
  •  Irony
  •  Oxymoron
  •  In Medias Res
  •  Repetition
  •  Anaphora
  •  Motif
  •  Satire
  •  Malapropism
  •  Hypophora
  •  Archetype
  •  Imagery
  •  Personification
  •  Foreshadowing
  •  Tmesis
  •  Anastrophe
  •  Synecdoche
  •  Tragicomedy
  •  Exposition
  •  Symbolism
  •  Soliloquy
  •  Cumulative sentence
  •  Anthropomorphism
  •  Colloquialism
  •  Tone
  •  Litotes
  •  Dramatic irony
  •  Tautology
  •  Simile
  •  Flashback
  •  Allusion
  •  Hyperbole
  •  Chiasmus
  •  Paradox
  •  Euphemism
  •  Allegory
  •  Frame story
  •  Isocolon
  •  Metonymy
  •  Polysyndeton
  •  Onomatopoeia
  •  Metaphor

Overall, the word apostrophe (əˈpɒstrəfɪ) refers to a punctuation mark like question marks, commas, single quotation marks, and others that you might see in composition or rhetoric. Apostrophes are used to show possession and to form abbreviations.

Sources:

  1. 45+ Literary Devices and Terms Every Writer Should Know | Reedsy 
  2. Apostrophe Examples, Definition and Worksheets | Kids Konnect 
  3. Apostrophe – Examples and Definition of Apostrophe | Literary Devices 
  4. When to Use an Apostrophe | Punctuation Rules & Examples | Ginger 
  5. Apostrophe | Definition of Apostrophe | Merriam-Webster 
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Kevin Miller is a growth marketer with an extensive background in Search Engine Optimization, paid acquisition and email marketing. He is also an online editor and writer based out of Los Angeles, CA. He studied at Georgetown University, worked at Google and became infatuated with English Grammar and for years has been diving into the language, demystifying the do's and don'ts for all who share the same passion! He can be found online here.

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