Apostrophes
Summary
Apostrophes on ACT English serve two essential functions: forming contractions and showing possession. Mastering a few high-frequency traps—especially its vs. it's, whose vs. who's, and singular vs. plural possessives—prevents many common punctuation errors.
- Apostrophes are tested primarily in two ways: contractions such as don't and shouldn't, and possession such as the dog's collar or Mary's book.
- Contractions can be straightforward, but common traps include would've, could've, and should've, which are correct only as contractions of have and never as would of, could of, or should of.
- It's means it is, while its is a possessive pronoun; whose shows possession, while who's means who is. A reliable check is to substitute the full contraction into the sentence and see whether it still makes sense.
- Possession depends on whether the noun is singular or plural: singular nouns usually take apostrophe-s, plural nouns ending in s take an apostrophe after the s, and irregular plural nouns not ending in s take apostrophe-s.
- ACT questions often require using context to decide whether a noun should be singular or plural before choosing the correct apostrophe placement, as in examples involving gardens, nation's capital, and Warhol's style.
Chapters
00:00
The Two Core Uses of Apostrophes
00:46
Contractions and Common ACT Traps
01:58
Its vs. It's and Whose vs. Who's
03:55
Possession Rules for Singular and Plural Nouns
05:12
Using Context to Solve ACT Apostrophe Questions