Apostrophe (’)

What does ’ mean?

The typographic apostrophe (’), technically encoded as the right single quotation mark (Unicode U+2019), is the indispensable punctuation mark of English grammar. Shaped like a raised comma or the number 9, the curved apostrophe performs three vital linguistic tasks: joining words in grammatical contractions (such as it’s, don’t, and you’re), indicating possessive nouns (Shakespeare’s sonnets), and marking the elision or omission of letters and numbers (such as rock ’n’ roll or the class of ’99).

Just like double quotes, the physical keyboard’s straight single quote (') is a typewriter relic. Professional typographers and publishing style guides—including Chicago, Oxford, and AP—insist on using the curly apostrophe (’) for all editorial copy. A frequent formatting blunder occurs when typing truncated years: word processors often mistake an opening space for the start of a quote, inserting a backwards mark (‘90s instead of ’90s). Remember that the true apostrophe always curls like a 9. Learn more in our curly quotes vs straight quotes guide and inspect the full repertoire in quotation marks.

Across world languages, the apostrophe also marks glottal stops and phonetic clicks, such as the Hawaiian ‘Okina, though specialized linguistics characters are preferred in phonetic transcription. In Catalan, contrast the apostrophe with the middle dot (punt volat), and examine its interaction with curly quotes and Continental guillemets.

Common uses

• Grammatical contractions: “It’s time to go”, “They haven’t seen the results yet”
• Possessive noun relationships: “The scientist’s discovery”, “Children’s games”
• Omitted century digits in dates and decades: “The roaring ’20s”, “Winter of ’98”
• Elision in colloquial speech and music: “Goin’ home”, “Guns N’ Roses”