Do you know how to use apostrophes?

A question about : Do you know how to use apostrophes?

How good are you at using apostrophes? Take the Oxford Dictionaries Apostrophe Challenge to find out (and let us know how you get on).

Best answers:

• Terribly tricky ok but Devilishly difficult - just as it says on the can! I'm pleased I know my basic apostrophes tho'.
• You scored: 10/10
  All hail the apostrophe monarch! Give yourself a pat on the back.
  Does MSE Badger have a spelling badge, please Miss?
• What has this got to do with gaming?
• You scored: 10/10
  Congratulations! You're the apostrophe champion!
  (On Devilishly Difficult - though I have to confess, I guessed a couple.)
• I may be having a completely dumb moment (its too early for me), but can anyone please explain to me why:
• Prince Charles' speech on green issues was welcomed by many.
• Grandma Moses' painting shows a rural farming scene.

but

• Charles Dickens's life was a tale of rags to riches.
• Mars's gravity is three-eighths that of Earth.

Aren't they all possessive proper nouns? Why does Dickens and Mars warrant extra s's?

• Actually they would all be s's as in Charles's, Dickens's etc
  Quote:
• 100%
  I was learnt proper.
• James' or James's
  Mr Jones's or Mr Jones'
  Either are acceptable these days. Personally, I don't like s-apostrophe-s.
  James(es)
• 10/10 on the easy one and 8/10 on the hard one.
  I thought I was better than that, now my brains's hurt!
  N.A.Foran
• Terribly Tricky - 9/10 (I was torn between 2 answers, unfortunately I picked the wrong one!)
  Devilishly Difficult - 7/10
  Normally I'm awful at these types quizzes so I'm actually quite impressed with myself!
• I always remember my English lesson on apostrophes with Mr. Charde (brilliant teacher) back in the late 80s...
  The cat and its tail.
  It's the cat's tail.
  The apostrophe always replaces something (a letter or one or several words) to shorten the sentence.
  In the second sentence, the longer version would be:
  It(i)s the cat(to which belong)s(the) tail.
  You scored: 10/10
  All hail the apostrophe monarch! Give yourself a pat on the back.
  You scored: 10/10
  Congratulations! You're the apostrophe champion!
  There's another reason why I do well at this - one of my first jobs was doing typing in an office run by a slightly odd individual. If I made one single mistake, the whole day's typing would be torn into pieces and thrown in my face and I'd have to do it again.
  - but I soon learned about apostrophes, punctuation and grammar...
• Initially I got 5/10 on TT and 5/10 on FD, but when I had another go at FD, (the questions change each time so it wasn't a case of choosing from the remaining two answers from the first time!) I got 10/10.
  Each error, it was the possessives that got me with people's names. I found as commented above, Charles' is what I'd expected.
• 10/10 on both
• Apostrophe?
  Whats that?
• There is healthy competition between all the ____.
  DJs was my answer, it said DJ's. I despair.
• I agree, davetheginge. No missing letter there.