Apostrophes

A recent Australian defamation case has highlighted the importance of using apostrophes correctly. The case concerned a Facebook post by Anthony Zadravic which said, ‘Oh Stuart Gan!! Selling multi million $ homes in Pearl Beach but can’t pay his employees superannuation.’

If Mr Zadravic was referring only to his own superannuation as an employee, he should have included an apostrophe before the ‘s’ in the word ‘employees’: employee’s. Without that apostrophe, there was a suggestion that Mr Gan had not paid superannuation to his employees in general.

There are 2 main uses of apostrophes in English:

1.     To show possession: his employee’s superannuation = the superannuation of his employee

2.     To show missing letters: he can’t pay = he cannot pay

Be careful, as possessive pronouns - its, yours, ours, theirs - do not have apostrophes. See the following sentence, where its is a possessive pronoun meaning the company’s and it’s is short for it is.

The company cannot pay its debts. It’s insolvent.

For more about using apostrophes in English, see these podcasts from GRAMMAR GIRL: https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/articles/apostrophe-catastrophe-part-one/

https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/articles/apostrophe-catastrophe-part-two/