The Smith is... a moron, or, how not to use apostrophes

Here's a good rule of thumb for using apostrophes: if you're not sure why you're putting in an apostrophe, you should probably leave it out.

Contrary to popular opinion, the apostrophe is not just part of the letter "s" whenever it comes at the end of a word. Describing more than one egg? That would be "eggs", not "egg's".

There are many reasons to use an apostrophe, but most of the time you only need to remember two. Use apostrophes for contractions ("the egg is broken" becomes "the egg's broken") and to show possession ("the shirt belongs to Joe" becomes "Joe's shirt"). If it's not a contraction and it's not possession, you probably shouldn't have an apostrophe.

Here's an example you see all the time. A sign in someone's front yard proudly proclaims, "The Smith’s". This means either "The Smith is" (The Smiths is what?) or "belonging to The Smith" (which person gets to be "The Smith?"). To me, that sign proudly declares, "a moron lives here, and his name is Smith."

More than nine out of 10 apostrophe mistakes are an apostrophe put in where it doesn't belong. Missing apostrophes are much more rare. When in doubt, leave the apostrophe out.