English in Use/Apostrophes

An apostrophe can be used to form possessives for nouns, indicate the omission of letters in a word for stylistic purposes or as a colloquial form of a word, and be used to indicate plurality. The term is derived from the Latin word apostrophus itself derived from the Greek words αποστροφος meaning accident of elision αποστρεφειν meaning a turning away. The apostrophe usually denotes either the possessive case of a noun, or the elision of one or more letters of a word: as, "The girl's regard to her parents' advice;" 'Gan, lov'd, e'en, thro'; for began, loved, even, through. It is sometimes used in pluralizing a mere letter or sign: as, "Two a's—three 6's." Apostrophe is also a figure of speech in which an absent person, a personified inanimate being, or an abstraction, is addressed as though present. This sense is maintained when a narrative or dramatic thread is broken in order to digress by speaking directly to someone not there, e.g., “Envy, be silent and attend!”—Alexander Pope. “On a Certain Lady at Court.”