different types of apostrophes (2025)

1516

Member

русский

  • Jul 9, 2013
  • #1

Is ' the only correct way to write an apostrophe (e.g. I'm)

or can also use ´ and ` ? (e.g. I´m or I`m)

  • L

    Latino1

    New Member

    spanish

    • Jul 9, 2013
    • #2

    the correct formal way is I'm

    I would never use (e.g. I´m or I`m) on a forum let alone an essay, I don't think I even have that on my keyboard lol

    JulianStuart

    Senior Member

    Sonoma County CA

    English (UK then US)

    • Jul 9, 2013
    • #3

    An apostrophe is exactly like a comma only used in the superscript position. However, different keyboards around the world, especially those that need to create accents (in French, e.g., acute and grave) do not always produce such a symbol "correctly". Even English keyboards can produce an "upside-down apostrophe" because many are programmed to create "smart quotes" (dumb apostrophes) different types of apostrophes (3)

    1516

    Member

    русский

    • Jul 9, 2013
    • #4

    JulianStuart said:

    An apostrophe is exactly like a comma only used in the superscript position. However, different keyboards around the world, especially those that need to create accents (in French, e.g., acute and grave) do not always produce such a symbol "correctly".

    That's what I used to think; I have a Finnish keyboard and it has ´ and ` for making accented letters. However, I recently found out that it can also do '

    JulianStuart

    Senior Member

    Sonoma County CA

    English (UK then US)

    • Jul 9, 2013
    • #5

    1516 said:

    That's what I used to think; I have a Finnish keyboard and it has ´ and ` for making accented letters. However, I recently found out that it can also do '

    I should, perhaps, have said that "operators of such keyboards do not always succeed in producing 'correct' apostrophes"!
    (Along the lines of "Many operators of English keyboards don't know how to create the accents used in other languages").

    E

    Egmont

    Senior Member

    Massachusetts, U.S.

    English - U.S.

    • Jul 9, 2013
    • #6

    There are two single quotation marks: one is concave to the right ‘, and the other is concave to the left ’. They may not show up clearly in your display font for these messages, but the rightmost figure about halfway down this page, under the heading "First a quick lesson," shows them clearly. The second quotation mark in this figure, concave to the left, should be used as an apostrophe.

    Many keyboards have only a vertical tick, in a tradition that goes back to the days of typewriters. It's often used instead of a single quotation mark or an apostrophe for two reasons: it's easier to enter a character that's on the keyboard than a character that isn't, and many people don't know when to use which "curly" quotation mark. (Microsoft Word's "smart quotes" feature gets them right about 99 percent of the time, but not 100 percent.) Some people, knowing that they shouldn't use a vertical tick but not knowing what to use instead, use an accent character. That's worse.

    JulianStuart

    Senior Member

    Sonoma County CA

    English (UK then US)

    • Jul 9, 2013
    • #7

    I've always been frustrated by Word's "smart" quotes when I want an

    initial

    apostrophe. An initial apostrophe in a program that has smart quotes turned on will show an upside down ‘20. I think you can have Word make "vertical ticks as in '20 " instead of upside down apostrophes (temporarily switch off smart quotes) but to get this: ’20 I had to type a character before the apostrophe and then delete it different types of apostrophes (7)

    Be that as it may, it is a keyboard/programming issue that is dealt with differently around the world.

    natkretep

    Moderato con anima (English Only)

    Singapore

    English (Singapore/UK), basic Chinese

    • Jul 9, 2013
    • #8

    Part of your answer will depend of what kind of a document you are producing.

    If you look at published material, you will see something like this: I’m
    If you produce the straight quotes version (I'm), it will look informal or unprofessional. This version is of course normal for email, this Forum, text messages and so on. Other versions ( I´m, I`m) will look distinctly non-English.

    Also, don't confuse the apostrophe with the prime symbol (although we might use the same character for email, etc.) - this is the one used for abbreviating foot or feet. I might write, she's 5'4", and properly I should use a single and a double prime symbol: 5′ 4″ rather than 5’ 4”. (One of your symbols does look like a prime symbol.)
    JS: If you want the apostrophe in ’20s in Word, use the sequence <Ctrl>+<'> then <'> - that forces the apostrophe or single close inverted commas. Also:

    • <Ctrl>+<`> then <`> for
    • <Ctrl>+<`> then <"> for
    • <Ctrl>+<'> then <"> for

    Last edited:

    JulianStuart

    Senior Member

    Sonoma County CA

    English (UK then US)

    • Jul 9, 2013
    • #9

    Thank you Nat - I may not be the only one to learn something from this discussion different types of apostrophes (10)

    G

    Giorgio Spizzi

    Senior Member

    Italian

    • Jul 9, 2013
    • #10

    That's very helpful, Nat. Thank you very much.

    GS

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