Ah, the apostrophe.
A swift tap on the keyboard, yet an act of creative dexterity that is capable of causing nationwide confusion, furrowed grammatical brows, and, let’s be honest, minor outrage among pedants.
An unassuming punctuation mark which has a surprisingly long history and an even longer list of misuses.
The Apostrophe—A Brief History
The apostrophe entered the English language in the sixteenth century, one ‘borrowed’ (perhaps the original is in the British Museum somewhere?) from the lush and already verdant French and Italian languages, where it was already playing a role in indicating omitted letters before, over time, settling into two main roles:
Showing possession (eg) the cat’s whiskers—belonging to one cat.
Indicating omitted letters (eg) don’t, you’re, it’s, rather than do not, you are and it is.
How to Use It Correctly
Possession
The apostrophe shows ownership (Edward’s book, the dog’s tail).
If the owner is plural and already ends in s, the apostrophe goes after the s (the teachers’ lounge, the Joneses’ house).
Contractions
It replaces missing letters in words like can’t, wouldn’t, and I’m.
Not for plurals
The dreaded greengrocer’s apostrophe (eg) apple’s for sale, is a grammatical sin (one that has me in some despair on an almost weekly basis) that haunts shop signage to this day.
It’s ‘Apples for sale’.
The Curious Case of ‘Sainsbury’s’
One common question is why Sainsbury’s has an apostrophe.
It’s because the company was originally Sainsbury’s store—belonging to Mr. Sainsbury. Hence the use of the apostrophe is correct. Contrast that with Waterstones (founded by Tim Waterstone) who controversially dropped their apostrophe in 2012 because it ‘looked tidier’ without one (but was grammatically incorrect) in branding-and yes, cue much collective eye-rolling from grammarians and letters to The Times.
This rule also means that if you shop elsewhere, you are going to Tescos. Not Tesco’s. But wait. There shouldn’t be an ‘s’ used here in the first place, because the store is called Tesco. With no ‘s’.
This is because the business name comes from the company's founder, Jack Cohen, who started it in 1919, the name ‘Tesco’ being created from a combination of T.E. Stockwell (a tea supplier Cohen worked with) and the first two letters of Cohen’s surname—hence, TES and Co.
There was never a Mr Tesco.
Whilst we’re out shopping (note my use of an apostrophe there, the ‘ in we’re replacing the ‘a’ in ‘we are’), let’s (‘let us’ becomes ‘let’s’) consider the case of where everyone goes to buy their socks-and note, the correct grammar here is ‘buy their socks’, there is no apostrophe, no ‘sock’s’.
That is because ‘socks’ is a plural noun, meaning more than one sock; the apostrophe is only needed for possession purposes (eg) ‘the sock’s hole’ if referring to a single sock’s hole or, just to simplify matters even more, ‘the socks’ colours’ if referring to multiple socks and their colours-where the name of the store is most definitely Marks & Spencer, not Mark’s and Spencer.
And for a very good reason.
This famous name comes from its two founders, Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. Since both names are surnames, there’s no need for an apostrophe. It’s not Mark’s store, but rather a partnership between Marks and Spencer.
So, next time someone writes Mark’s & Spencer, you have my permission to raise a mildly querulous eyebrow.
When Apostrophes Go Rogue
While Sainsbury’s is correct, we’ve all seen crimes against punctuation, including:
Unnecessary apostrophes in plurals: CD’s, DVD’s, potato’s (No! Just CDs, DVDs, potatoes etc)
Confusion between ‘its’ and it’s’? Remember-if you can replace the word with ‘it is’ or ‘it has,’ use ‘it's.’ If not, use ‘its’.
‘Random misuse: Fresh fruit’s available (Fresh fruit’s what? Fresh fruit’s confused? Fresh fruit’s angry? Tell us more).
Apostrophe Catastrophe: A Parting Thought
The apostrophe is a simple (you might now think otherwise) tool, but one that continues to be misused with reckless abandon.
If punctuation marks were people, the apostrophe would be that diligent, underappreciated colleague whose good work is regularly undone by a chaotic team. So next time you’re tempted to add an apostrophe where one doesn’t belong, pause for thought—lest you become the unwitting architect of yet another grammatical disaster.
And remember, as one old sage once told me—where apostrophes are concerned: if in doubt, leave it out.
