HOW TO USE AN APOSTROPHE

Para que serve um apóstrofe, afinal?

• Omitir uma letra ou parte de uma palavra em uma contração:

It is (It's); 

You are (You're); 

I am (I'm); 

Do not (Don't); 

Did not (Didn't); 

Would not (Wouldn't)

etc

• Indicar posse

Ao indicar posse, lembre-se de alguns detalhes:

Apóstrofe + s ('s) - Indicar posse de palavra que não termina em "s". - Mark's car. (O carro de Mark);

Somente apóstrofe (') - Indicar posse de palavra no plural - The babies' clothes. (As roupas dos bebês)

Apóstrofe + s ou somente apóstrofe ('s) ou (') - Indicar posse de palavra que termina em "s" - Charles's car ou Charles' car . (O carro de Charles);

Apostrofe + s nas duas pessoas ('s) - Indicar posse de duas pessoas - Mark's and Martha's houses - (As casas de Mark e Martha);

Apóstrofe + s na última pessoa ('s) - Indicar posse de algo que pertence aos dois: Mark and Martha's house (A casa de Mark e Martha).

ATENÇÃO

Bob's been drinking - Contração (Bob has been drinking - "Bob anda bebendo")

Bob's drunk - Contração - (Bob has drunk - "Bob bebeu")

Bob's drunk - Contração - (Bob is drunk - "Bob está bêbado")

Bob's drinking - Contração - (Bob is drinking - "Bob está bebendo")

Bob's drinks - Posse ("As bebidas do Bob")

Bob drinks - Sem apóstrofe - conjugação do verbo ("Bob bebe")

It's been a month - Contração (It has been a month - "Faz um mês")

It's hot! - Contração (It is hot - "Está quente!")

Its toys are here - Sem apóstrofe - pronome possessivo (Os brinquedos dele estão aqui)

My father's friends - Os amigos do meu pai

My father's friend -  O amigo do meu pai

My friends' fathers - Os pais dos meus amigos

My friend's father - O pai do meu amigo

The students' books - Os livros dos alunos

The student's books - Os livros do aluno

Clique nas imagens para vê-las ampliadas:

ONE POST TO RULE THEM ALL

E se houvesse uma única tabela, com todos os principais tempos verbais em inglês?
Agora há:

VERB TENSE	USE	EXAMPLE
SIMPLE PRESENT*	HABITS ROUTINE SCIENTIFIC FACTS	HE DRIVES HE DOESN’T DRIVE DOES HE DRIVE?
PRESENT CONTINUOUS*	RIGHT NOW FUTURE ARRANGEMENTS	HE IS DRIVING HE ISN’T DRIVING IS HE DRIVING?
SIMPLE PAST	ACTIONS AT A SPECIFIC POINT IN THE PAST	HE DROVE HE DIDN’T DRIVE DID HE DRIVE?
PAST CONTINUOUS*	ACTIONS DURING A PERIOD IN THE PAST	HE WAS DRIVING HE WASN’T DRIVING WAS HE DRIVING?
WILL	PROMISES, PREDICTIONS AND SPONTANEOUS DECISIONS	HE WILL DRIVE HE WON’T DRIVE WILL HE DRIVE?
BE GOING TO*	PLANS AND  INTENTIONS	HE IS GOING TO DRIVE HE ISN’T GOING TO DRIVE IS HE GOING TO DRIVE?
ALINGUADEFORA.BLOGSPOT.COM		FACEBOOK.COM/ALINGUADEFORA
FUTURE CONTINUOUS	PROGRESSIVE ACTIONS IN THE FUTURE	HE WILL BE DRIVING HE WON’T BE DRIVING WILL HE BE DRIVING?
PRESENT PERFECT*	ACTIONS AT A NON-SPECIFIC POINT IN THE PAST	HE HAS DRIVEN HE HASN’T DRIVEN HAS HE DRIVEN?
PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS*	ACTIONS THAT STARTED IN THE PAST AND ARE STILL HAPPENING	HE HAS BEEN DRIVING HE HASN’T BEEN DRIVING HAS HE BEEN DRIVING?
PAST PERFECT	ACTIONS THAT HAPPENED BEFORE ANOTHER ACTION	HE HAD DRIVEN HE HADN’T DRIVEN HAD HE DRIVEN?
PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS	ACTION THAT HAPPENED FOR A PERIOD BEFORE ANOTHER ACTION	HE HAD BEEN DRIVING HE HADN’T BEEN DRIVING HAD HE BEEN DRIVING?
FUTURE PERFECT	ACTION THAT WILL BE COMPLETED IN THE FUTURE	HE WILL HAVE DRIVEN HE WON’T HAVE DRIVEN WILL HE HAVE DRIVEN?
FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS	ACTION THAT WILL CONTINUE UP UNTIL ANOTHER POINT IN THE FUTURE	HE WILL HAVE BEEN DRIVING HE WON’T HAVE BEEN DRIVING WILL HE HAVE BEEN DRIVING?
CAN	ABILITY REQUESTS POSSIBILITY PERMISSION PROHIBITION (NEG)	HE CAN DRIVE HE CAN’T DRIVE CAN HE DRIVE?
COULD	ABILITY (PAST) POLITE REQUESTS POSSIBILITY (PAST) PAST OF CAN	HE COULD DRIVE HE COULDN’T DRIVE COULD HE DRIVE?
SHOULD	SUGGESTIONS ADVICES	HE SHOULD DRIVE HE SHOULDN’T DRIVE SHOULD HE DRIVE?
WOULD	HYPOTHESIS	HE WOULD DRIVE HE WOULDN’T DRIVE WOULD HE DRIVE?
MUST	OBLIGATION	HE MUST DRIVE HE MUSTN’T DRIVE MUST HE DRIVE?
MAY	POSSIBILITY REQUESTS PERMISSIONS	HE MAY DRIVE HE MAY NOT DRIVE MAY HE DRIVE?
MIGHT	POSSIBILITY REQUESTS PAST OF MAY	HE MIGHT DRIVE HE MIGHTN’T DRIVE MIGHT HE DRIVE?
COULD + MODAL PERFECT	SPECULATIONS ABOUT POSSIBILITIES IN THE PAST	HE COULD HAVE DRIVEN HE COULDN’T HAVE DRIVEN COULD HE HAVE DRIVEN?
SHOULD + MODAL PERFECT	REGRETS	HE SHOULD HAVE DRIVEN HE SHOULDN’T HAVE DRIVEN SHOULD HE HAVE DRIVEN?
WOULD + MODAL PERFECT	HYPOTHESIS ABOUT THE PAST	HE WOULD HAVE DRIVEN HE WOULDN’T HAVE DRIVEN WOULD HE HAVE DRIVEN?
MUST + MODAL PERFECT	SPECULATION ABOUT AN ACTION THAT PROBABLY HAS HAPPENED	HE MUST HAVE DRIVEN HE MUSTN’T HAVE DRIVEN MUST HE HAVE DRIVEN?
MAY + MODAL PERFECT	SPECULATION ABOUT AN ACTION THAT MAYBE HAS HAPPENED	HE MAY HAVE DRIVEN HE MAY NOT HAVE DRIVEN MAY HE HAVE DRIVEN?
MIGHT + MODAL PERFECT	SPECULATION ABOUT AN ACTION THAT MAYBE HAS HAPPENED	HE MIGHT HAVE DRIVEN HE MIGHTN’T HAVE DRIVEN MIGHT HE HAVE DRIVEN?
CAN’T + MODAL PERFECT	SPECULATION ABOUT AN ACTION THAT PROBABLY HASN’T HAPPENED.	HE CAN’T HAVE DRIVEN CAN’T HE HAVE DRIVEN?

*Exceções quanto à estrutura:

SIMPLE PRESENT:
Na afirmativa: I, you, they, we (verbo sem "s"); he, she, it: (verbo + s); 
Na negativa: I, you, they, we (don't); he, she, it: (doesn't)
Na interrogativa: I, you, they, we (do); he, she, it: (does);  

PRESENT CONTINUOUS:
O verbo "to be" varia conforme a pessoa: I (am); you, they, we (are); he, she, it: (is)

PAST CONTINUOUS: 
O verbo "to be" varia conforme a pessoa: I, he, she, it: (was); you, they, we (were)

BE GOING TO:
O verbo "to be" varia conforme a pessoa: I (am); you, they, we (are); he, she, it: (is)

PRESENT PERFECT:
O verbo auxiliar varia conforme a pessoa: I, you, they, we (have); he, she, it: (has)

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS:
O verbo auxiliar varia conforme a pessoa: I, you, they, we (have); he, she, it: (has)

Vale lembrar que essa tabela é um resumão. Para entender melhor cada um dos tempos verbais, clique nos links abaixo e confira os posts de cada um deles:

SIMPLE PRESENT
VERB TO BE
VERB + ING
SIMPLE PAST
FUTURE TENSE
MODAL VERBS
MODAL PERFECT
PERFECT TENSES e PERFECT + TIME ADVERBS

VERBO TO BE - PRESENTE E PASSADO

O verbo to be ("ser" ou "estar", de acordo com o contexto) é bem conhecido, no entanto, ainda há muita gente que se confunde.

A confusão acontece porque trata-se de um verbo diferente, especial. Ele não aceita as regras que se aplicam a outros verbos, nem no presente, nem no passado. 

A mais importante é que ele não aceita auxiliares, nem na negativa, nem na interrogativa. Além disso, ele se modifica drasticamente de acordo com o sujeito. 

Confira as tabelas:

PRESENTE

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERROGATIVE	INT/NEG
I AM	I AM NOT	AM I?	AM I NOT?
YOU ARE	YOU AREN’T	ARE YOU?	AREN’T YOU?
HE IS	HE ISN’T	IS HE?	ISN’T HE?
SHE IS	SHE ISN’T	IS SHE?	ISN’T SHE?
IT IS	IT ISN’T	IS IT?	ISN’T IT?
YOU ARE	YOU AREN’T	ARE YOU?	AREN’T YOU?
THEY ARE	THEY AREN’T	ARE THEY?	AREN’T THEY?
WE ARE	WE AREN’T	ARE WE?	AREN’T WE?

PASSADO

AFFIRMATIVE	NEGATIVE	INTERROGATIVE	INT/NEG
I WAS	I WASN'T	WAS I?	WASN'T I?
YOU WERE	YOU WEREN'T	WERE YOU?	WEREN'T YOU?
HE WAS	HE WASN'T	WAS HE?	WASN'T HE?
SHE WAS	SHE WASN'T	WAS SHE?	WASN'T SHE?
IT WAS	IT WASN'T	WAS IT?	WASN'T IT?
YOU WERE	YOU WEREN'T	WERE YOU?	WEREN'T YOU?
THEY WERE	THEY WEREN'T	WERE THEY?	WEREN'T THEY?
WE WERE	WE WEREN'T	WERE WE?	WEREN'T WE?