APOSTROPHES ( ’ )

BRACKETS { }

PARENTHESES ( )

Mechanics Grades 7 & 8

Apostrophes ( ’ ) The apostrophe ( ’ ) is used to show

possession or ownership. It is also used in shortened forms of words called contractions. In a contraction, the apostrophe marks the place where letters have been omitted.

E.g. This is the president’s office. { The office of the president } Possession

E.g. Molly isn’t going to visit us this week. { isn’t is not } Contraction

Using Apostrophes with Possessive Nouns

RULE 1:

Add an apostrophe ( ’ ) and ( s ) to show the possessive case of most singular nouns and plural nouns that do not end in ( s ) or ( es ).

E.g. Willy’s brother won the spelling bee contest.

E.g. The women’s waiting rooms are on the left.

RULE 2:

Add an apostrophe ( ’ ) to show the possessive case of plural nouns ending in ( s ) or ( es ). DO NOT ADD AN ( S ).

E.g. My daughters’ play will be on Monday.

E.g. The witnesses’ testimonies were very helpful.

RULE 3:

Add an apostrophe ( ’ ) and ( s ) or just an apostrophe if the word is a plural ending in ( s ) to the last word of a compound noun to form the possessive.

E.g. My father-in-law’s house.

E.g. The Girl Scouts’ ceremony.

Using Apostrophes with Pronouns

RULE 1:

Add an apostrophe ( ’ ) and ( s ) to indefinite pronouns to show possession.

E.g. I respect everyone’s opinion. E.g. You should taste everybody’s food.

Do not use an apostrophe with personal pronouns.

RULE 1:

Use an apostrophe ( ’ ) in a contraction to show where one or more letters have been omitted.

Avoid using contractions in formal speech and writing.

Using Apostrophes with Contractions

RULE 1:

Use an apostrophe ( ’ ) and ( s ) to create the plural form of a letter, numeral, or a word used as a name for itself.

E.g. There are three 6’s in his phone number.

E.g. People cannot confuse a’s and an’s.

Using Apostrophes to Create Plurals

Using Parentheses ( )

RULE 1:

Use parentheses ( ) to set off explanations or other information that is loosely related to the rest of the sentence.

E.g. William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) was one of the most famous playwrights and dramatists.

RULE 2:

A parenthetical sentence within another sentence should not begin with a capital letter unless the parenthetical sentence begins with a word that should be capitalized.

E.g. We jumped in the pool (the water was freezing) and climbed out immediately.

RULE 3:

A parenthetical sentence within another sentence may end with a question mark or exclamation mark if applicable, but it should not end with a period.

E.g. The class trip (are you going?) is planned for the same day as our game. { √ }

E.g. The class trip (we all want to go.) is planned for the same day as our game. { X }

RULE 4:

A parenthetical sentence that stands on its own should begin with a capital letter and end with an end mark before the closing parentheses.

E.g. The class trip is planned for the same day as our game. ( Do you think they will change the date? )

Using Brackets { } RULE 1:

Brackets { } have one major use: to enclose a word or words is a quotation that were not spoken by the person or source that is quoted.

E.g. The mayor said, “The newly built bridge was the effort of two local companies { SACO and SISCO}.”

RULE 2:

Use brackets { } to enclose an explanation that is located within parenthetical text.

E.g. John Adams (the second president of USA

{1797 – 1801} ) was defeated for reelection by Thomas Jefferson.