
Chemistry
01. Apostrophes
The apostrophe is the most commonly misused punctuation mark. There are two uses for apostrophes:
- contractions; and
- possessives
Contractions are words where one or more letters have been omitted. The apostrophe is used in place of the letter(s) removed. Some of the most common examples are:
- it’s (it is, it has)
- we’ll (we will, we shall)
- can’t (cannot)
- won’t (will not)
Contractions (it's, we'll, etc.) should not be used in academic essays.
Some words feature an apostrophe because they were once contracted, but now we only ever use the contracted form:
- o’clock
- Hallowe’en
- ne’er-do-well
Possessives indicate that something belongs to someone. The place of the apostrophe depends on whether the possessor is singular or plural. A singular possessive apostrophe goes before the possessive 's'; a plural possessive apostrophe goes after the possessive 's'.
- the catalyst's disadvantages (one catalyst)
- the drug's effects (one drug)
- the crystals' structure (many crystals)
- the drugs' effects (many drugs)
- the catalyst (its) problem
- the drug (its) effects
- the crystals (their) problem
- the drugs (their) effects
There are some things to look out for: for example, plurals that don't end in 's', e.g. 'children' and 'people', should have the possessive apostrophe placed before the possessive 's'.
- children's bones
- people's assumptions
N. B. the possessive 'its'
- its properties were variable
- its impact was negligible
- its methodology was faulty
- its qualities are debatable
Just remember that like 'his' and 'hers', when 'its' is being used in the possessive sense, it never takes an apostrophe. 'Its' takes an apostrophe only when it's a contraction:
- It's difficult to describe all its uses. (It is difficult to describe all its uses.)
Tips:
1. Plain plurals, i.e. plurals simply denoting more than one, NEVER need apostrophes.
- The chemists showed flair.
- Some polymers are porous.
- Braunschweig et al's synthesis of a stable oxyboryl complex of platinum.1
instead write
- The synthesis of a stable oxyboryl complex of platinum by Braunschweig et al.'1
The incorrect use of apostrophes shows poor attention to detail, something that no chemist wants to advertise.
1 adapted from Schenk, W. A., Dalton Transactions, 2011, 40, 1209-1219
Task | Task Type | Difficulty |
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Task 1 | Word click | Moderate |
Task 2 | Word click | Moderate |
Task 3 | Word click | Easier |
Task 4 | Word click | More Challenging |
Task 5 | Word click | More Challenging |
Task 6 | Word click | Easier |
Task 7 | Word click | More Challenging |
Task 8 | Word click | Easier |