This bright, appealing grammar worksheet is an excellent way to practise and revise using a possessive ‘s’ in Year 4. It is divided into five sections: understand, challenge, test, explain and apply.
Activities include SATs style questions and opportunities for creative writing responses, with eye-catching images as prompts.
This primary resource is divided into five sections:
- Understand
Add apostrophes to each of these sentences to show that the subjects are singular, then do the same for the next set to show they are plural
- Challenge
Can you place each of these words into sentences?
- Test
Tick the box to show if the word in bold is singular or plural, then rewrite the sentences in the possessive form
- Explain
Using your own words, explain when to use an apostrophe before an ‘s’, and give examples
- Apply
Imagine that you are at the market scene in the image provided. What can you see, hear, smell, touch or taste? What might be in the next street? Write a passage about this scene, include at least five possessive apostrophes to show you know how to use them
What is an apostrophe?
Apostrophes have two completely different uses:
- Apostrophes for contraction: Showing the place of missing letters (eg I’m for I am)
- Apostrophes for possession: Marking possessives (eg Hannah’s mother)
Possessive apostrophe rules
The apostrophe is placed after the plural form of the word; -s is not added if the plural already ends in -s, but is added if the plural does not end in -s (ie is an irregular plural – eg children’s)
Possessive apostrophe examples
Singular possessive apostrophe
- Megan’s book
- Ravi’s bag
- the girl’s hair
- the child’s toy
- the man’s smile
Plural possessive apostrophe
- girls’ school
- boys’ toilets
- babies’ clothes
- children’s games
- men’s ties
- mice’s tails
National Curriculum English programme of study links
Learning the possessive apostrophe (singular) [for example, the girl’s book]
Place the possessive apostrophe accurately in words with regular plurals [for example, girls’, boys’] and in words with irregular plurals [for example, children’s]
Indicating possession by using the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns