Apostrophes: apostrophe challenge

Apostrophes are so hard to use that now a council in Devon (the pretty part of England in the south-west where lots of people come on holiday!) is taking them out of road names! So:

BAKER’S VIEW

is now:

BAKERS VIEW

A lot of people are very unhappy about this! (Read about it here).  But does it matter? When we speak we don’t use apostrophes -obviously! – but we understand what people mean so why do we need them when we write? It is quite possible  that over the coming years the apostrophe may slowly die out but meanwhile if you want to get a good mark in your writing you will need to use apostrophes correctly. Even though you might think it is a tiny detail, it is quite possible that badly used apostrophes might influence your lecturer as they mark your work.

I’ve previously written some easy to understand pages on apostrophes here and here, but today’s post is to tell you about a great resource I’ve been looking at from Oxford Dictionaries on apostrophes. Their APOSTROPHE CHALLENGE, which is an interactive quiz on apostrophes, is here. Have a go – how many can you get right??