Year 6 Punctuation worksheet

“Where the apostrophe sits” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 6 English unit “Punctuation”, for children aged 10 to 11, 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. Weeks 3 to 4 of the year, 8 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Where the apostrophe sits

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 6 · English · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can place apostrophes for contraction and possession in the right spot.

A Look back3 min

1.
In the sentence 'Ali ran home', which word tells what Ali did?
Aliranhome
2.
Which sentence type is 'Is the bus late?'
statementquestioncommand
3.
Which word is the plural of 'box'?
boxsboxesboxies

B Watch me, then you4 min

In the cloakroom, one girl has a bag and a group of girls have bags. Watch where the apostrophe goes.

A school cloakroom with coat pegs and bags on the floor, no people

Watch me

One girl owns the bag: girl + 's = girl's bag.

Two or more girls own the bags. Girls already ends in s, so the mark goes after it: girls' bags.

Ask first: is it one owner or more than one?

Now you

1.
One dog owns the bowl. Fill in the gap: The bowl was empty.
dogs'dog'sdogs

C Your turn6 min

Read each sentence. Say who owns the thing, or which two words are joined, then pick the form that fits.

An empty classroom with a desk by a window and a shelf of books, no people

1.
The desk is by the window. (one teacher)
teacher'steachers'teachers
2.
The desks are by the window. (several teachers)
teacher'steachers'teachers
3.
The nest is under the floor. (several mice)
mices'mice'smouses'
4.
going to the park after school. (they are)
TheyreThey'reTheir

Say it out loud: What changed from one row to the next, and what stayed the same? Say the owner out loud before you pick.

D Spot the mistake3 min

Lou says: “The childs' toys are on the shelf.”

1.
Lou means toys that belong to several children. Which form should Lou have written?
childs'children'schildrens'

E Think deeper3 min

1.
Write one sentence about women or men and something they own. Use an apostrophe for plural possession. Then tell your grown-up why the mark goes where it does.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Where the apostrophe sits · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. ran If your child picks Ali, they have found the doer. Ask what Ali did, and pick the doing word.

2. question If your child says statement, they may have missed the question mark. Ask whether the sentence asks something.

3. boxes If your child picks boxs, they have added only an s. Words ending in x add es to make the plural.

B

1. dog's If your child picks dogs', they have put the mark after the s as if there were many dogs. Only one dog owns the bowl, so the mark goes before the s.

C

1. teacher's If your child picks teachers', they have made the owner plural. The sentence says one teacher, so the mark goes before the s.

2. teachers' If your child picks teacher's, they have kept the owner singular. Several teachers own the desks, so the mark goes after the s.

3. mice's If your child picks mices', they have added an s that mice does not have. Mice does not end in s, so add apostrophe + s.

4. They're If your child picks Their, they have chosen a word that means belonging to them. Try swapping in they are: it fits, so use They're.

D

1. children's If your child picks childs' or childrens', they have not checked the plural. Children does not end in s, so the owner is children and the mark is apostrophe + s.

E

1. Look for: A sentence using women's or men's (or another irregular plural with apostrophe + s), and a reason that the owners are more than one but the plural does not end in s.

Words to use

Say“Ask: is it one owner or more than one? Then where does the mark go?”

Instead of“Tell them the rule and make them copy it out.”

After the sheet

Walk round the house and find three things that belong to someone. Say whose they are, then write each owner with the apostrophe in the right place.

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

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

Hyphens and ellipsis(with a plan)
Colons that introduce lists(with a plan)
Colons that explain(with a plan)
Semi-colons joining ideas(with a plan)
Semi-colons in long lists(with a plan)
Three ways to write speech(with a plan)
Bullet points, step by step(with a plan)

Every Year 6 English worksheet

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