Learn English – When to use opening or closing single quotes

abbreviationsapostrophecontractionspunctuationquotation marks

I've been discussing with a colleague which apostrophe/single quote to actually use in what situations.

  • We've agreed to use the closing single quote ( ’ ) for possession. e.g. That’s his potato.
  • Or in a quote within a quote. e.g.“Mary said ‘I like cats’ as she walked away.”

What we cannot agree on the following situation (for years):

  1. Dean's List ‘15 – ‘16
  2. Dean's List ’15 – ’16

It looks natural to use the opening single quotes as seen in example 1 but Microsoft Word autocorrects it to example 2.

So which single quote is the correct choice and why?

Best Answer

In numbers that have been abbreviated, such as:

in the ’90s

Dean’s List ’15-’16

The apostrophe denotes the presence of abbreviation, much as in:

I’ll, let’s, where’d, can’t, ma’am, e’en, ...

’tis, ’em, ’cause, ...

There is also:

o’clock (for "of the clock"; according to the Online Etymology Dictionary)

I also found this Oxford Dictionaries article about the apostrophe, which even gives as an example:

pick ’n’ mix (short for "pick and mix")

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