quick... need to teach when to use/not to use apostrophe s

[sansouci]

Is there any particular rule about this? You never say "it's" except as a contraction for "it is", apostrophe s is possessive otherwise... oh, help.

There's a fairly standard (incredibly easy to read) grammar book for teaching EFL which I had but can't for the life of me remember the name. It'll be buried somewhere under a cloud of dust. Students love it, you can just photocopy the page and give it to them to take home. Used it a lot together with Advanced Exercises in English Grammar. Whatever anyone says about communicative approaches, students always seem reassured to have something grammatical in hand even if it's just to do for homework.

I've kick-started my memory and it might throw the name up. If so, I'll let you know.

Do you mean the Murphey book, Sssandy? or the david crystal grammar one?

Now you've got me, I can't remember whether it's Swan or Murphy I mean. Good if you want a quick clear definition you can explain in easy terms.

UD - I meant in the sense that an apostrophe normally takes the place of the missing letter(s) in a contraction.

'Will not' does not contract strictly to won't, not unless you contract AND make an anagram.

DS1 argued the point with me when he was 5, I found it difficult to disagree with him.

Point taken SGM. I suppose the answer is that, although won't is a contraction, the apostrophe doesn't always necessarily represent a missing letter.

Exactly - which is why he caught me out when he was 5.

I had explained the 'missing letter', he for once listened to me.

Strangely ever since then I have hesitated when writing won't. I know it is right, but I see his little face grinning at me every time

Murphy is brilliant for students & an excellent quick reference for teachers. Swan goes into far more detail & I don't use it as an example for my students but as a reference for myself. For example, there are four pages devoted to apostrophes in Swan! Argh!

I had years of French grammar in school but only one year of English grammar & I know there are many like me. Why is/was English grammar skipped over in schools?!

The one I hate is (especially in business) when people use an apostrophe to make an acromy plural. Say, for example we have a ducument called a PDN (project deviation notice) and then another arrives and someone writes "We now have two PDN's" GRRRRR I see it all the time and I just want to crrect peoples e-mail and send them back.

PDNs NOT PDN's (unless of course you are referring to something which belongs to the PDN, like "The PDN's author is a numskull because he doesn't know what posessive means.")

Sorry
acromy = acronym