apostrophe

A noun with two distinct meanings: a rhetorical device where a speaker addresses an absent or imaginary person, and a punctuation mark (') used to indicate omitted letters or possession.

• 🇨🇳名词，有两个主要含义：一是修辞手法，指说话者对着不在场的或想象中的人物说话；二是标点符号（'），用于表示省略的字母或所有格。

1. Rhetorical device C1 formal

   A figure of speech in which a speaker directly addresses an absent or imaginary person, or a personified abstraction.

   • In his speech, he used an apostrophe to address the spirit of freedom.
   • The poet's apostrophe to the moon is a classic example.
   • She cried out in an apostrophe to her lost friend.

   🇨🇳呼语

2. Punctuation mark A2 formal

   The punctuation mark (') used to indicate the omission of letters or figures, the possessive case, or the plural of letters or figures.

   • The word 'don't' uses an apostrophe to show missing letters.
   • The cat's toy has an apostrophe to show possession.
   • Mind your p's and q's – the apostrophe is used for the plural of letters.

   🇨🇳撇号

• apostrophes plural form
• apostrophes' possessive plural form
• apostrophe's possessive singular form