Words / B2

uh-POSTR-uh-fee/əˈpɒstrəfi/

An apostrophe is the punctuation mark ’ used to show possession or missing letters: the pupil’s book; don’t. It is also a rhetorical remark addressed to someone absent: an apostrophe to the dead. Possessive and contraction are the two school uses. Correct the apostrophe in the title. Mix-up: apostrophe vs catastrophe; parenthesis; do not write apostrophe for a quotation mark “ ”.

Meaning

The punctuation mark ’ used to show possession or missing letters; also a remark addressed to someone absent (rhetoric).

Examples

• “Correct the apostrophe in the title; a rhetorical apostrophe in the poem still needs the named addressee.”
• “Correct the apostrophe in the title; its vs it’s is still the classic trap, the English paper said.”
• “A rhetorical apostrophe in the poem still needs the named addressee, which is the literary sense.”

Good to know

an apostrophe of possession / omission; it’s vs its. Rhetoric: an apostrophe to. Trap: quotation marks / catastrophe. English language and literature. The mark ’, or a remark to an absent person — correct the title or name the addressee.

Near in meaning

possessive mark, omission mark, address

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