In this issue we show you the benefits of keeping your business and personal lives apart; how to organise your time more effectively and give you some tips to ensure that you never again sit – pen poised over paper – wondering where to put the apostrophe in a word!

• Editor's Desk
• Bite 1
• Bite 2
• Bite 3
• Working Web
• Last Word

Punctuating Properly

The apostrophe is a tiny thing, but it seems to cause more confusion and consternation than any other form of punctuation. Here, briefly, is how it should be used.

To show where a letter has been missed out of a word.

it’s (it is), don’t (do not), can’t (cannot), doesn’t (does not) etc.

The versions of these words with the apostrophe are used frequently in speech and in informal writing.

You also use it to show ownership. Simply add an apostrophe and a letter s:

My father’s house means: The house that belongs to my father.

Joe’s suit means: The suit that belongs to Joe.

But when something is owned by a number of people the apostrophe comes after the s which is added to make the word plural. For example, if a lawyer has an office, you write:

The lawyer’s office.

But if two or three lawyers share one office, you write:

The lawyers’ office.

Here ‘lawyers’ is the plural of lawyer, because we are talking about more than one of them.

But what happens when the owner’s name already ends in s? The rule is just the same. You add an apostrophe and an extra s. For example if you want to mention the suit of a man called Charles, you write:

Charles’s suit.

But just to complicate things, an exception is always made for Jesus (Jesus’ disciples).

So, using apostrophes is simple isn’t it? When you write about ownership, you just write down the name of the owner followed by an apostrophe and then the letter s. If the word is plural the apostrophe comes after the s.

The girl’s room means: The room belonging to the girl.

The girls’ room means: The room belonging to the girls.

The rule is slightly different with irregular plurals - words such as men, women and children. Here we simply add an apostrophe and then an s.

The men’s dinner means: The dinner belonging to the men.

The children’s shoes means: The shoes belonging to the children.

The most common mistake people make with apostrophes is to put them in where they are not needed. For example, you may see a sign outside a shop:

Shoe’s for sale.

This is wrong. There is no need for an apostrophe, because the word ‘shoes’ is a simple plural. Never put an apostrophe in front of the s in a plural.

Many people get confused between it’s and its. But you will never make this mistake if you remember one thing:

The word it’s ALWAYS means it is.

The apostrophe shows where the letter i is missing from the word is. So when you write it’s, you mean it is.

So what do you do when you want to write about something that belongs to it? You just leave out the apostrophe:

The tail belonging to the dog is its tail.

One more thing before we leave apostrophes, they are not necessary in:

(a) Plurals of figures: Boeing 747s, the 1990s

(b) Plurals of abbreviations: MPs, GCSEs

Many people feel very strongly about the fact that the apostrophe is so often ignored or misused. So, they have started an 'Apostrophe Protection Society'. You can access their website at: www.apostrophe.org.uk

And, if you want to know more about punctuation generally Eats, Shoots and Leaves - The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss is an amusing and interesting book. On the British best seller list for a number of months it is published by Profile Books and can be obtained from www.amazon.co.uk.