Writing Tip of the Day - Apostrophes

Have you ever seen a sign like this at a store or along a road:

Did you notice that unnecessary apostrophe? This is called a "grocer's apostrophe" because it is commonly seen in grocery stores and roadside produce stands, although it could pop up anywhere.

Apostrophes can indicate two things - either that two words are being combined into one contraction or that something is owned by someone or something else.

Let's take a look at the first case - the contraction. A contraction happens when two words are combined into one. The apostrophe substitutes for the missing letters.

For example:

Now let's look at the second case - the possessive. The possessive form is used to indicate that something belongs to someone or something else. In this case, we add "apostrophe s" to the end of the name of the person or the thing that does the possessing.

For example:

This is Sarah's puppy. The yellow toy is the puppy's rubber ducky.

Writing Tip of the Week: Run-On Sentences

A run-on sentence doesn't know when to stop. It goes on and on, combining two or more ideas with no, or incorrect punctuation.

For example: I had pizza for lunch it was good. This type of run-on is called a fused sentence because there are two complete thoughts here, but no punctuation.

The easiest way to correct this run-on is to add a period and separate the two thoughts into individual sentences: I had pizza for lunch. It was good.

We could also fix it with a comma that separates the thoughts, but does not create a separate sentence. If we do this, we must also use a conjunction, or connecting word. For example, I had pizza for lunch, and it was good.

Remember that 1 comma + 1 conjunction= one period.

Writing Tip of the Week

Did you know that commas can save lives? There is a world of difference between these two sentences:

1. Let's eat, Grandpa!

The comma in the first sentence indicates that you are speaking to Grandpa.



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2. Let's eat Grandpa!

The lack of a comma in the second sentence indicates that Grandpa is the direct object and the eating will be done to Grandpa.