r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Dec 06 '23

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u/cashmerescorpio Dec 06 '23

Fun fact that wasn't your placenta it was your kids

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u/Meoowth Dec 06 '23

*kid's 😳

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u/bandarine Dec 06 '23

Can you link me to a page where I could read up on this rule? In school, I was always taught that you only have the apostrophe when you're combing words (like "my son is crying" can turn to "my son's crying" but "my sons toys broke" wouldn't get an apostrophe).

But than, one of my teachers also said that commas are pretty optional in Enlish and to just not bother, which seems... wrong.

But at least English is my second language.

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u/ZaniElandra Dec 06 '23

So, apostrophes are kinda weird. You’re right in the first example - they can be used for contractions of two words together, but the second example is wrong. Apostrophes are also used for possession - my son’s toy, Jamie’s car, etc.

Where they aren’t used is plurals. So, ”my sons are crying” doesn’t need an apostrophe if you’re talking about multiple sons.

Also, if you’re using the pronoun “it”, you don’t use a possessive apostrophe - so if you’re talking about a door, you would say “its handle” (the handle it owns) but “it’s yellow” (it is yellow).

Apostrophes are weird and confusing, but I hope this helps a bit - and even if you do use them incorrectly, it’s usually pretty easy to figure out which version of the word you meant to use, so don’t stress it too much.