We usually make nouns plural by adding s; so, for example, cat becomes cats; student becomes students. There are, though, some words which make their plurals differently: the plural of child is children; leaf becomes leaves; kiss becomes kisses; mouse becomes mice. Most nouns, however, form plurals simply by adding s to the singular.

Where students usually get in a muddle – if this applies to you, read slowly at this point – is with the apostrophe when there is a plural noun. There is, though, no need for confusion. The basic rule is that you adds to form a possessive. Thus:

The children’s party had to be cancelled.

This means that the party of the children had to be cancelled: the plural noun is children. With this example we can compare the following, all adding’s: George’s essay, France’s... Read more...

It’s
The first point to repeat is that the apostrophe has two different functions. One, as we have seen above at great length, is for the possessive case; It is Jane’s book. But then the apostrophe is also used in a different way with a different meaning when we use it to indicate a contraction. The most famous contraction, and the one that sinks a thousand exam scripts, is when, instead of writing it is, we write it’s. Here the apostrophe signals that the two words it and is have been contracted into one word and that a letter has been omitted: it’s, then, means it is, or, in some cases, it has, as in: It’s been raining here all day.

Its
Many students know this, but then, often without... Read more...