It’s a writer’s easiest mistake to make. You write one wrong word, followed by another, followed by yet another. And spellcheck doesn’t catch any of them. You proofread it, your eyes skimming over the mistake and hit send. Shortly after, you get yet another rejection letter, making fun of your heritage, your education and your dreams. You read your work, the tears swelling up, your vision blurring, and you see this:
The Cylon’s saw there prey over their, they’re spines glowing in anticipation.
Ok, You deserved that one. Have a good cry.
Look, It’s easy. Apostrophe’s do two things in the English language:
- Show Possession
- Show Contractions
The Problem is they can’t do both at the same time
Apostrophes Show Possession
If the noun doesn’t end in s, add ’s, regardless of plurality
Baltar’s demons
The Cylon’s Basestar
The men’s triangle team
If the word ends in s, usually add just the apostrophe. Some style guides do show ’s for words ending in s, as that’s the way they’re still pronounced. Sorry, this is still in flux
Gaius’ fantasy
pilots’ Vipers (Pilots’s Vipers? Nahh…)
Compound words and joint ownership put the ’s at the ery end of the bunch of nouns:
Commander-in-Chief’s quarters
Starbuck and Apollo’s relationship
Six and Gaius’ destiny
Personal pronouns do not have the apostrophe : Indefinite pronouns do.
His, Her (hers), Your (Yours), Their (Theirs), Its
Everybody’s home planet
Contractions
While we’re on the subject, here’s where we start having problems. The apostrophe can contract "Is" and "are" down so they sound the same as the possessives:
Everybody’s home planet
Everybody’s going home
This leads to all kinds of homophones in English:
It’s looking at its former body.
They’re standing over there next to their ships.
You’re not getting your weapon back.
And in the heat of battle, typing away at your desk, it’s easy to miss these small mistakes. But editors, who are looking for any way they can to cull their paperwork, see these small, common mistakes, they make the snap decision that you are a small, common writer.
Go ahead, have that cry.