Language Center Program, Writing Tips

Volunteer State Community College | Division of Humanities

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The placement of an apostrophe depends upon the meaning you want to convey. For example, if you want to indicate that a dish belongs to a single dog, you would place the apostrophe before the "s" (i.e., dog's). However if the dish belonged to more than one dog, then the apostrophe belongs after the "s" (i.e., dogs').

In grammatical terms, if you wish to form a singular possessive, place the apostrophe before the "s." If you wish to form a plural possessive, place the apostrophe after the "s."