6. The Bakers live in Paris, but [their / they're] children are in London. Check their
7. This book is interesting although [its / it's] writer is not famous. Check its
8. John is certainly here.[His / He's] car is in the parking. Check His
9. The kids are not at home. [They're / Their] in the park. Check They're
10. I guess [its / it's] high time we left. Check it's
The compelling apostrophe
What is embarrassing for the tough apostrophe is that it is easily gotten rid of especially in writing; so instead of ""you're"", you can write "you are", and this is practicable in lots of other cases such as
'm => am | I'm (I am) glad to see you again.
've => have | I've (I have) done my homework already.
'll => will | I'll (I will) try to contact you later during the day.
won't => will not | They won't (will not) be able to come to the party.
's => is OR has | She's (She is) my aunt. | She's (She has) been to France twice.
'd => would OR had | I'd (we would) fly if I'd (I had) wings.
n't => not :
don't => do not | I
don't know.
doesn't => does not | She doesn’t drive.
can't => can not / cannot | You can't ignore this any more.
couldn't => could not | We couldn't sleep last night. It was very torrid.
shouldn't => should not | You shouldn't throw litter on the floor.
oughtn't to => ought not to | He oughtn't to go to bed late.
haven't => have not | I haven't seen the movie yet.
didn't => did not | We didn't meet the teacher yesterday.
hadn't => had not | They hadn’t bought anything yet when I met her..
mustn't => must not | You mustn't smoke here. It’s forbidden.
and so on
The apostrophe here is the exception but the rule is when you don't (do not) use it. However, the weird thing is that there are cases where you cannot get rid of the apostrophe. Here are some cases where the apostrophe imposes itself as the rule, not as an exception (?)
Let us* => Let's | Let's go to the theatre this evening.
You had better* => You'd better | You'd better revise your lessons regularly.
Can you think of other similar cases?
The apostrophe for possessive nouns
Another amazing use of the apostrophe is when it serves the possessive of nouns. In this form, the apostrophe doesn't replace any omitted letter, but it shows the possessive of singular and plural nouns like in,
Singular
My grandma's scarf. I mean “the scarf of my grandma”
Plural
My parents' car is being washed right now.
The surprise doesn't end here. The apostrophe can also find its way through rough styles like when the singular possessive noun ends in “"s"” itself, like Doris - the boss - Chris and so on.
In cases as such, you can use the apostrophe with an “"s"” or without it.
She put the report on the boss' desk.
She put the report on the boss's desk.
I have been introduced to Chris' parents.
I have been introduced to Chris's parents.
Yet, I'd prefer not to advise you to use the “"s"” after the apostrophe because it is noisy. It whistles eerily.