Year 4 Apostrophes and speech punctuation worksheet

“Apostrophes that show ownership” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 4 English unit “Apostrophes and speech punctuation”, for children aged 8 to 9, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Week 3 of the year, 3 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Apostrophes that show ownership

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 4 · English · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can use apostrophes for contraction and for singular and plural possession.

A Look back3 min

1.
Which word is the plural of fox? Circle one.
foxsfoxesfoxies
2.
Which word is an adjective (a describing word)? Circle one: the red ball rolled.
theredball
3.
Yesterday I ___ to school. Circle the right word.
walkwalkingwalked

B Watch me, then you4 min

Look at the scarf that belongs to Ruby. Here is how we show that Ruby owns it.

A wooden coat hook by a front door with a red scarf and a backpack hanging on it

Watch me

Ruby is one person, so the owner is singular.

Ruby does not end in s, so we add 's.

Ruby's scarf.

Now you

1.
Which is the bag that belongs to Sam? Circle one.
Sam's bagSams bagSam' bag
2.
Which is the short form of they are? Circle one.
they'retheirtheyre

C Your turn7 min

Each row changes one thing. Circle the correct version.

A park bench with two pairs of muddy trainers and a water bottle on it

1.
The scarf belonging to Mia. Circle the correct version.
Mia's scarfMias' scarfMias scarf
2.
The scarves belonging to several girls. Circle the correct version.
the girls' scarvesthe girl's scarvesthe girls's scarves
3.
The coats belonging to the children. Circle the correct version.
the children's coatsthe childrens' coatsthe children' coats
4.
The short form of could not. Circle the correct version.
couldn'tcould'ntcouldnt'

Say it out loud: Look at the owner. Is it one or more? Does it end in s? Which rule fits?

D Spot the mistake3 min

A school cloakroom with a row of hooks and several coats hanging up

Kit says: “The womens’ coats are on the hooks.”

1.
Which version is correct? Circle one.
The women's coats are on the hooks.The womens' coats are on the hooks.The womens coats are on the hooks.

E Think deeper4 min

Write two sentences about a school trip. In one, use won't. In the other, use men's or children's to show ownership. Tell your grown-up how each apostrophe works.

A yellow school bus parked outside a museum entrance

1.
Write your two sentences on the lines.

How did it feel?

Which apostrophe rule was hardest today? Tell your grown-up one thing you can now do.

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Apostrophes that show ownership · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. foxes your child added only s, or added ies. Words ending in x add es. Say the word slowly: fox, foxes.

2. red your child chose ball, which is a noun. Ask: which word tells us what sort of ball it is?

3. walked your child chose walk or walking. Yesterday needs the past tense, so the ending changes to ed.

B

1. Sam's bag your child left out the apostrophe or put it in the wrong place. Sam is one person, so the 's goes straight after Sam.

2. they're your child chose their, which is a different word. For they are, the a goes out, so the apostrophe sits where the a was.

C

1. Mia's scarf your child missed the apostrophe or put it after the s. Mia is one person, so add 's.

2. the girls' scarves your child put the apostrophe after girl, which means one girl owns them. Several girls already ends in s, so the apostrophe goes after the s.

3. the children's coats your child added the apostrophe after the s, as if children ended in s. Children does not end in s, so add 's like a singular word.

4. couldn't your child put the apostrophe in the wrong place. The o drops out of not, so the mark goes where the o was, between n and t.

D

1. The women's coats are on the hooks. your child thinks every plural ends in s. Women does not end in s, so add 's. Ask: does the owner end in s?

E

1. Look for: Two sentences: one with won't (apostrophe between n and t) and one with a plural owner using the correct apostrophe, such as men's or children's.

Words to use

Say“Who or what owns it? Is it one or more, and does the owner end in s?”

Instead of“Just tell them the answer, or say apostrophes go wherever they look right.”

After the sheet

Pick three things in your home and write whose each one is, such as Dad's jacket. Then find something shared by several people, write who owns it, and check whether the owner word ends in s.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

2 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Speech First Sentences(with a plan)
Speech second sentences(with a plan)

Every Year 4 English worksheet

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