Dutch uses an apostrophe mainly to protect a vowel. You write _auto's_, _foto's_ and _menu's_ because without the apostrophe the last vowel would look short. You also see it in abbreviations (_cd's_), after names like _Anna_ (_Anna's fiets_) and in a few time words (_'s avonds_), but never in _Peters fiets_.
The pattern
Use an apostrophe before _-s_ when a word or name ends in one vowel letter (_a_, _i_, _o_, _u_, or _y_ after a consonant), and before the plural ending of abbreviations you say letter by letter. After vowel combinations and after _é_, add a plain _-s_: _cadeaus_, _cafés_.
- Plurals: _auto's_, _foto's_, _menu's_, _taxi's_, _baby's_
- After vowel combinations or _é_, no apostrophe: _cadeaus_, _essays_, _cowboys_, _cafés_
- Abbreviations said letter by letter: _cd's_, _tv's_, _wc's_
- Names ending in one of these vowels: _Anna's fiets_, _Yara's jas_
- Most other names get only _-s_: _Peters fiets_, _Daans jas_, _Sannes tas_
- Names ending in an s sound get only an apostrophe: _Joris' fiets_
- Fixed time words: _'s morgens_, _'s middags_, _'s avonds_, _'s nachts_
Examples
| Ik heb twee foto's van de kat gemaakt. | I took two photos of the cat. |
|---|---|
| Er staan veel auto's voor het huis. | There are a lot of cars in front of the house. |
| Het café heeft nieuwe menu's. | The café has new menus. |
| Bij het station wachten drie taxi's. | Three taxis are waiting at the station. |
| De buren hebben net twee baby's gekregen. | The neighbours have just had two babies. |
| Lotte krijgt veel cadeaus voor haar verjaardag. | Lotte gets lots of presents for her birthday. |
| Ik heb mijn oude cd's verkocht. | I sold my old CDs. |
| Fatima's moeder werkt bij de gemeente. | Fatima's mother works for the council. |
| Daans moeder werkt bij de huisarts. | Daan's mother works at the GP's practice. |
| 's Morgens neemt Bas de trein naar Utrecht. | In the morning Bas takes the train to Utrecht. |
Why it works this way
Dutch spelling thinks in syllables. In _au-to_, the _o_ ends its syllable, so it sounds long, as in _zo_. Write _autos_ and a reader splits it into _au-tos_: now the _s_ closes the syllable, and a single vowel in a closed syllable is normally short, as in _bos_. The apostrophe says: the word ends here, the _s_ is just an add-on. See [open and closed syllables](#/lesson/open-closed-syllables) for the full logic.
With two vowel letters there is nothing to protect. Nobody misreads the _eau_ in _cadeau_ or the _ay_ in _essay_, so you write _cadeaus_ and _essays_. That is also why _baby's_ gets an apostrophe (consonant before the _y_) but _cowboys_ does not. An accent does the same job: the _é_ in _café_ already shows how to say it, so the plural is _cafés_.
Names follow the same idea. _Annas_ would look like it ends in a short _a_, so you write _Anna's_. _Peter_ and _Daan_ end in a consonant, so there is nothing to protect: _Peters fiets_, _Daans jas_. A final unstressed _e_ is the neutral sound, not a long vowel, so _Sanne_ becomes _Sannes_, just like _tante_ becomes _tantes_. Names ending in an s sound, like _Joris_ or _Carlos_, take only the apostrophe: _Joris' fiets_, _Carlos' tas_. More ways to show ownership are in [possession](#/lesson/possession).
Abbreviations that you say letter by letter get an apostrophe before the plural ending, so you can see where the abbreviation stops: _tv's_, _cd's_, _pc's_. An abbreviation that you say as an ordinary word and write entirely in small letters follows the normal plural spelling rules: _vips_, but _havo's_, because _havo_ ends in a single _o_. If it is written with a capital letter, it gets an apostrophe before the plural ending: _vips_, but _VIP's_.
The time words are fossils. The _'s_ is short for the old word _des_ ("of the"), so _'s avonds_ once meant "of the evening". Today it simply means "in the evening" or "in the evenings". Learn _'s morgens_, _'s middags_, _'s avonds_ and _'s nachts_ as fixed words. At the start of a sentence, the capital goes on the next word (see [capital letters](#/lesson/capital-letters)).
You will also meet apostrophes in informal short forms like _m'n_ and _'t_. Those are a different story, told in [spoken shortcuts](#/lesson/spoken-contractions).
Remember: the apostrophe is a doorstop. It holds the syllable open so the last vowel can stay long.
Watch out
- Not: _twee autos_ Say: _twee auto's_ (without the apostrophe the o reads as short)
- Not: _Peter's fiets_ Say: _Peters fiets_ (Peter ends in a consonant, so just add -s)
- Not: _Sanne's verjaardag_ Say: _Sannes verjaardag_ (an unstressed e at the end needs no apostrophe)
- Not: _twee café's_ Say: _twee cafés_ (the accent already shows how to say the é, so add a plain -s)
- Not: _'S avonds fiets ik naar huis._ Say: _'s Avonds fiets ik naar huis._ (the capital goes on the word after 's)
Quick check
- Fill in the plural of _mango_: _Ik koop drie ... op de markt._
- Choose: _Dit is (Daan's / Daans) laptop._
- Fix the sentence: _Ik sport savonds._
- Fix the sentence: _We hebben thuis twee tvs._
Answers
- _mango's_ (_mango_ ends in a single _o_, so the apostrophe keeps it long)
- _Daans_ (a name ending in a consonant takes only _-s_)
- _Ik sport 's avonds._ (a fixed time word with _'s_)
- _We hebben thuis twee tv's._ (you say _tv_ letter by letter, so it gets _'s_)
Use it today
Next time you are in the supermarket, find three plurals with an apostrophe on signs or price tags, like _kiwi's_, _avocado's_ or _pizza's_. Then write one sentence about your day with _'s morgens_ or _'s avonds_.