Why is there an apostrophe in don t?

Why is there an apostrophe in don t?

The apostrophe is not there to confuse it with another word, even if such a word “dont” don’t exist. The apostrophe is there so that people who follow the rules can judge and criticise those who don’t.

Does the word don’t need an apostrophe?

The apostrophe in the contraction “don’t” seems to make people want to use an apostrophe to make “do” plural, but then to be consistent, you’d also have to use an apostrophe to make “don’t” plural, which becomes downright ugly because then the word “don’t’s” has two apostrophes.

Do you add an apostrophe s to a name?

Names are pluralized like regular words. When indicating the possessive, if there is more than one owner add an apostrophe to the plural; if there is one owner, add ‘s to the singular (The Smiths’ car vs. Smith’s car). If the possessive involves a last name ending with “s” or “z,” you can add either.

Does students need an apostrophe?

When you have an ordinary noun like student, you can tell whether the possessive form refers to one student or many students by looking at where the apostrophe is. When you’re talking about one student, add apostrophe + s: When you’re talking about many students, add an apostrophe.

Is it do’s and don ts?

Many people mistakenly write “do’s and don’ts” (with an apostrophe in “dos”). The proper way is to write dos and don’ts—with no apostrophe in dos.

Why do people add apostrophe?

The apostrophe has three uses: 1) to form possessive nouns; 2) to show the omission of letters; and 3) to indicate plurals of letters, numbers, and symbols.

Why do apostrophes matter?

The most basic use of an apostrophe is to show possession. The general rule of thumb: Singular words get an apostrophe and an s, and plural words get an apostrophe. This is not necessary unless you want to make the word plural. If you only want to turn the word possessive, just add an apostrophe and an s (company’s).

What is an apostrophe in the middle of a name called?

An apostrophe that follows a name is usually called “Saxon genitive,” since historically, this is one of the noun declensions that still…