# 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."

