The Apostrophe
Jan 27, 2021
It means belonging to. Andy’s means belonging to Andy. (1) Before the ‘s’, because there is only one Andy. After the ‘s’, if there’s more than one Andy.
And (2): the only exception is its. Its means belonging to ‘it’, because it’s means ‘it is’ already. Or ‘it has’. Or ‘it was’. It’s an abbreviation.
That’s it.
Any other rules you thought you knew, or made up as you went along — forget them. That’s it. 1, and 2.
Yes, plural nouns behave as though they were singular: the people’s Princess. But that’s their problem. It’s got nothing to do with the apostrophe.
And yes. Plural Andies. They’d be a problem. But it’s not the apostrophe’s problem. Rephrase the Andies.
That’s it. Really it. Thanks for letting me get that out there.
