Year 4 · Grammar and punctuation
Apostrophes when there is more than one owner
Indicate possession by using the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns
Lesson overview
What you'll learn in this lesson
Indicate possession by using the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns
Key learning points
- • One owner: apostrophe then s
- • More than one owner: s then apostrophe
- • Plurals that do not end in s
- • Its and it's
This lesson at a glance
- 20 minutes
- 19 parts to scroll through
- 4 quick checks
- No marked quiz yet
- Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses
Words to know
Scroll down — the lesson carries on below
Watch & discover
Part 1 of 19
Watch first
Apostrophes when there is more than one owner
Learn exactly where speech marks go around a character's words.
In a nutshell
Indicate possession by using the possessive apostrophe with plural nouns
What you already know
Part 2 of 19
Before we start
What you already know
You can use an apostrophe to show one person owns something, as in Alex's coat.
Key words
Part 3 of 19
Key words
Words you'll need today
- singular
- One of something.
- plural
- More than one.
- possession
- Owning or having something.
- apostrophe
- The mark ' used for possession or for missing letters.
Learning cycle
Part 4 of 19
Learning cycle 1 of 2
Part 1 — Where the apostrophe goes
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 5 of 19
Learn
One owner: apostrophe then s
For one owner you add 's: the girl's shoes (one girl), the dog's lead (one dog), my sister's bike (one sister). The apostrophe sits straight after the owner's name and before the s. Read it back as 'the shoes of the girl' to check.
Explore the idea
Part 6 of 19
Learn
More than one owner: s then apostrophe
When the plural already ends in s, you do not add another one. You put the apostrophe after the s that is already there: the girls' shoes (lots of girls), the dogs' leads (lots of dogs), the teachers' room (the room belonging to the teachers). Same word, different meaning: 'the pupil's work' is one child; 'the pupils' work' is a whole class.
Quick check
Part 7 of 19
Quick check
Bowls belonging to several dogs:
Quick check
Part 8 of 19
Quick check
The playground belonging to the children:
Reset break
Part 9 of 19
Pause
That's sitting 1 of 2 done
Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.
Learning cycle
Part 10 of 19
Learning cycle 2 of 2
Part 2 — The awkward cases
A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.
Explore the idea
Part 11 of 19
Learn
Plurals that do not end in s
Some plurals are odd: children, people, men, women, mice, teeth. Because they do not end in s, they behave like singular words — add 's. So it is the children's playground, the men's team, the women's race, the mice's nest. Writing 'childrens' is a common slip; there is no such word.
Explore the idea
Part 12 of 19
Learn
Its and it's
This one catches adults out. its (no apostrophe) means belonging to it: the cat licked its paw. it's (with an apostrophe) is short for it is or it has: it's raining. Test it by saying 'it is' in your head. If that makes sense, use it's. Also remember: plurals on their own never take an apostrophe. Apples for sale, not apple's for sale.
Quick check
Part 13 of 19
Quick check
Which is correct?
Quick check
Part 14 of 19
Quick check
Sign in a shop:
Common mix-ups
Part 15 of 19
Common mix-ups
Things people often get wrong
- Writing dog's bowls when you mean lots of dogs.
- Writing childrens' instead of children's.
- Putting an apostrophe in an ordinary plural, like banana's.
Challenge round
Part 16 of 19
Game · Sort it
Which of these are true?
Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.
True
Not true
Challenge round
Part 17 of 19
Game · Fill the gaps
Finish the sentences
Choose the word that belongs in each gap.
The ____ sits straight after the owner's name and before the s.
When the ____ already ends in s, you do not add another one.
Mastery quiz
Part 18 of 19
No quiz for this one
This lesson has no marked quiz attached yet.
Lesson round-up
Part 19 of 19
Lesson round-up
Ready when you are
Quiz score
Not sat
Games
Not played
Points this lesson
0
Best run
0 in a row
Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?
Ask LunaDo the work
Your written work for this lesson
This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.
The last bus
The bus shelter smelled of wet coats. Mira pressed her timetable flat against the glass, as though staring at the numbers might make the 9:42 appear. Rain tapped the roof in small, impatient fingers. Somewhere behind her, a shop shutter came down with a sound like a full stop.
She had been brave all day. She had been brave in the corridor, brave at lunch, brave when the register reached her name and nobody looked up. Being brave, she decided, was mostly a matter of keeping your face still.
Headlights swung around the corner and lit the puddles gold. Mira picked up her bag. Tomorrow she would say something. Tonight she would simply go home.
Original extract written for Good Learning Co.
Reading questions
- Find two words or phrases that show how Mira is feeling, and explain what each one suggests.
- How does the writer use the weather and the sounds to build the mood? Use a short quotation.
- Write the next paragraph in the same style, keeping the writer's short sentences at the moments that matter.
Reading response
ReadingRead the extract again, then write about how the writer makes you feel that way. Use a short quotation and explain your choice of words.
2 paragraphs (PEE)
Extended writing
WritingWrite your piece in full, then redraft the opening so it hooks the reader.
250–350 words
Reading log
ReadingNote the book, the pages you read and one thing you noticed about the writing.
20 minutes' reading
Saved as you type.
Part 1 of 19 · Watch & discover