Punctuation Basics - Part 2
How to Use Apostrophes and Hyphens

Punctuation Shortcuts:
Apostrophes: show something belongs to someone (possession) or that letters are missing (omission).
Hyphens: combine separate words to show they are working together.

In Part 1, we looked at commas and periods. Now, let's take a look at hyphens and apostrophes. Or should that be apostrophe's?

Apostrophes (') and hyphens (-) are two of the most common (and feared) punctuation marks. But there are a few simple rules you can follow to get them right!

There are two ways to use apostrophes.

The first is to show possession. To do this, you add an apostrophe and an "s".

"Bob's new song is the cat's pajamas!"

The song belongs to Bob and the pajamas belong to the cat.

However, if a word already ends with an "s" it's common to simply add an apostrophe on its own.

"Agnes' car is upside down."

An apostrophe can also signal omission - that letters are left out.

For example: "you are" becomes "you're."

Hyphens are mostly used to join separate words to show they are working together as compound words.

"Jim is the guy with dirty-blond hair," has a very different meaning to "Jim is the guy with dirty, blond hair."

The hyphen makes it clear the two words are working as one adjective and aren’t referring to cleanliness!


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