Joan’s ballet rehearsals were almost done, and the recital was around the corner.
> The ballet rehearsals belong to Joan, and thus require an apostrophe to show possession.
Her parents weren’t nervous because they knew she had been practicing for months.
> “weren’t” is a contraction of the words “were” and “not”. Here, the apostrophe takes the place of the o in “not”.
Joan’s parents’ support was so important to her.
> Wait hose parents are they? Joan’s. To show that they belong to Joan, add an apostrophe. And to show that the support belongs to the parents, add an apostrophe after the s because it’s a plural noun.
They’d always been there for her, and she was excited for them to see her perform.
> “They’d” is a contraction of the words “they” and “had”. The letters h and a from “had” have been replaced with an apostrophe.
