End Apostrophe Abuse!

Apostrophe mistakes are one of the most (if not the most) common grammar errors in America. It seems like people enjoy throwing apostrophes where they don’t belong to make a word look fancy. Have a look at some of these errors and consider the corrections:

The creator of this poster has confused a possessive noun with a plural noun. An apostrophe correctly used shows possession over the following word. Obviously "concession" does not own "area" in this case, so the writer has made an error. The correct use of grammar in this case would be, "No Hair or Makeup in Concessions Area"

This poster is another example of confusion over possessive and plural nouns. "Towel" does not own anything (there aren't even any nouns following the word, so this error is even more painful to read), therefore it should not have an apostrophe. In fact, the writer correctly used "towels" earlier in the poster, so the mistake is a bit random, and it is obvious that the writer just has no knowledge of how to use apostrophes. The poster should say, "TOWELS ARE A **FREE** AMENITY. THEY ARE NOT BEING RETURNED... IF THIS PERSISTS THERE WILL BE NO TOWELS. -COOP"

Here is a very frequent error regarding apostrophe usage. "Its" and "it's" are often confused and misused. Unlike other nouns, "it" is made possessive simply by adding the letter "s" at the end of the word. When an apostrophe is added, it turns the possessive "its" into the contraction "it's" (it is). If this sign is read literally, it would say, "Perfection Has It Is Price." However, if the sign was written correctly, and the noun is made possessive of "price," it would say, "Perfection Has Its Price."

An apostrophe is only necessary if a word is possessive, a contraction, to show the omission of letters, or to indicate the plural of single letters and numbers. Always remember that if a word is plural, there should not be an apostrophe before the letter "s". If you are considering whether you should place an apostrophe in a word, think carefully about whether or not it would make sense in your sentence.

Apostrophes do not make word's look fancy! ... Did you catch the error?