GetUnderlined: Your Grammar Guide!

Apostrophes and Titles

If you’ve driven in a car recently, chances are good that you’ve seen signs for restaurants and other businesses. What most people don’t realize is that signs have apostrophes.

For an example, McDonald’s has an apostrophe to show that McDonald owns the restaurant. Wendy’s uses that same apostrophe. (The apostrophe is the little slanty line that comes after the name of the owner.)

Recently, I saw a sign that said ‘Melbys Market’. This, I’m sorry to say, drove me nuts, because it had no apostrophe. Sometimes it’s the smallest pieces of grammar that make the most difference.