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Apostrophes (Revision) 01
The girls and boys. In this case no apostrophes are needed.

Apostrophes (Revision) 01

Apostrophes are used for omission or possession. An example of omission is "I'm" - which is an abbreviation of "I am". An example of possession is "Sarah's car", where the car belongs to Sarah, therefore an apostrophe is required to make the proper noun possessive.

Apostrophes can be a little bit tricky because of the rules about singular nouns or names already ending in -s, plural nouns which do not end in an -s, and the specific case of "it's" and "its". "It's" is used as a contraction of "it is" and thus follows all the rules you already know about the apostrophe showing where a letter or letters have been omitted. Here the apostrophe shows that the i of "is" has been omitted. But "it's" looks exactly like you would expect an apostrophe of possession to look. Why can't "it's" be used in place of "horse's" in the phrase, "horse's mane"? It's helpful to remember that "it" is a pronoun and the possessive form behaves therefore like "yours", "hers" and "his", which also do not have apostrophes before (or after) the -s.

Here are some revision questions to help you to learn and practise using apostrophes!

1.
Select the correct answer for the following sentence.
The breakfasts belonging to the men.
The men's breakfasts
The mens breakfast's
The men's breakfast's
The mens' breakfasts
If a plural (such as "men") doesn't end with -s, add an apostrophe+s
2.
Select the correct answer for the following sentence.
The anger of Father would not .......
Father's anger would'nt
Fathers anger wouldn't
Father's anger wouldn't
Fathers' anger wouldn't
If you wanted to write about more than one father, the correct possessive would end in an apostrophe after the s
3.
Select the correct answer for the following sentence.
The cards belonging to the children.
The children's cards
The childrens card's
The children's card's
The childrens' cards
"Children" is plural, but does not end in an -s
4.
Select the correct answer for the following.
Belonging to it.
Its
I'ts
It's
Its'
Remember: use "its" for "belonging to it" and "it's" for "it is"
5.
Select the correct answer for the following sentence.
The rucksacks belonging to the girls.
The girl's rucksacks
The girls' rucksacks
The girls rucksack's
The girls' rucksack's
"Girls" is a plural ending in an -s, so only needs an apostrophe at the end
6.
Select the correct answer for the following sentence.
The sadness belonging to Shanya should not .......
Shanya's sadness should'nt
Shanya's sadness shouldn't
Shanyas' sadness should'nt
Shanyas' sadness shouldn't
This question tests you on apostrophes for contraction and for omission!
7.
Select the correct answer for the following sentence.
The music belonging to Thomas.
Thomas music
Thoma's music
Thomas' music
Thomas music'
Thomas's is also considered correct. It all depends on where you're writing!
8.
Select the correct answer for the following sentence.
The rucksack belonging to the girl.
The girls rucksack
The girl's rucksack
The girls' rucksack
The girl's rucksack'
Rucksack belonging to one girl, so "girl's" is correct
9.
Select the correct answer for the following sentence.
The paws belonging to the dogs did not .......
The dog's paws did'nt
The dogs' paws did'nt
The dogs paws didn't
The dogs' paws didn't
For plurals ending in s, like "dogs", just add an apostrophe at the end
10.
Select the correct answer for the following sentence.
The book belonging to James.
James book
Jame's book
James' book
James' book'
James's would also be considered correct
You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - How to check your apostrophes are correct

Author:  Sue Daish

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