Revise Your Apostrophes: How to Use Them Correctly Worksheet

Worksheet Overview

QUESTION 1 of 10

Many people get confused about apostrophes.

They are used for two main reasons: contraction and possession.

1) Contraction (sometimes called omission) is the term used when words are shortened by missing out letters.

for example:

can not / can't

I am / I'm

she is / she's

2) Possession means ownership and this is the area that a lot of people have trouble with.

The apostrophe comes before the 's' if there is only only one person involved.

the boy's toys

If there is more than one boy then the apostrophe comes after the 's'.

the boys' toys

Some plural nouns don't end in 's' so the apostrophe comes after the noun but before the 's'.

the children's toys

Many people put an apostrophe when they make a singular noun into a plural noun but this is not correct.

Cream tea's £3.50. (Incorrect)

Which of the following sentences uses apostrophes correctly?

1) Jamilas new puppies have long wavy tail's and big blue eyes.

2) Jamila's new puppies' have long wavy tails and big blue eyes.

3) Jamila's new puppies have long wavy tails and big blue eyes.

Sentence 1

Sentence 2

Sentence 3

Which of the following sentences uses apostrophes correctly?

1) The childrens room was very untidy and the toy's hadnt been picked up off the floor.

2) The children's room was very untidy and the toys hadn't been picked up off the floor.

3) The childrens' room was very untidy and the toys hadn't been picked up off the floor.

Sentence 1

Sentence 2

Sentence 3

Which of the following sentences uses apostrophes correctly?

1) The neighbour's cats were last seen being chased across the farmer's field by two vicious dog's.

2) The neighbour's cats were last seen being chased across the farmers field by two vicious dogs.

3) The neighbour's cats were last seen being chased across the farmer's field by two vicious dogs.

Sentence 1

Sentence 2

Ssentence 3

Which of the following sentences uses apostrophes correctly?

1) The women's coats were hanging in the hallway.

2) The womens' coats were hanging in the hallway.

3) The womens coats' were hanging in the hallway.

Sentence 1

Sentence 2

Sentence 3

Which of the following sentences uses apostrophes correctly?

1) The men's changing room is currently being redecorated so theyr'e having to use the womens' one.

2) The mens' changing room is currently being redecorated so they're having to use the womens' one.

3) The men's changing room is currently being redecorated so they're having to use the women's one.

Sentence 1

Sentence 2

Sentence 3

Can you select the words where an apostrophe is missing to make this sentence grammatically correct?

Childrens clothes are on the second floor next to the mens department.

Which word would add apostrophe/s to make this sentence make sense?

Mum said shell give us a lift to Joes house but we cant stay very long.

Can you indicate which words need apostrophes in the sentence below for it to be correct?

Its my parents silver wedding anniversary on Saturday so were having a party at my uncles house.

Samantha has written the following sentence:

Jacks dads new car is a Porsche and hes very proud of it.

Joshua has corrected the sentence to:

Jack's dads new car is a Porsche and he's very proud of it.

Has Joshua corrected the sentence fully?

Yes

This time Simon has written a sentence:

The children's bikes were leaning against the fence but they weren't locked.

Hayley has changed the sentence to:

The childrens' bikes were leaning against the fence but they weren't locked.

Who is correct?

Simon

Hayley

ANSWERS

Question 1

Which of the following sentences uses apostrophes correctly?

1) Jamilas new puppies have long wavy tail's and big blue eyes.

2) Jamila's new puppies' have long wavy tails and big blue eyes.

3) Jamila's new puppies have long wavy tails and big blue eyes.

CORRECT ANSWER

Sentence 3

EDDIE SAYS

How did you do? Remember you can always go back to the introduction if you need to at any point. We need to think about why an apostrophe is used. It's to indicate possession or contraction. In these sentences, we know that the content includes possession, as the puppies belong to Jamila Sentence 1 was incorrect as there were no apostrophes used at all. Sentence 2 was incorrect as although 'Jamila's' was punctuated there was an unnecessary apostrophe on the word 'puppies' Sentence 3 is correct! The apostrophe shows the reader that the puppies belong to Jamila.

ANSWERS

Question 2

Which of the following sentences uses apostrophes correctly?

1) The childrens room was very untidy and the toy's hadnt been picked up off the floor.

2) The children's room was very untidy and the toys hadn't been picked up off the floor.

3) The childrens' room was very untidy and the toys hadn't been picked up off the floor.

CORRECT ANSWER

Sentence 2

EDDIE SAYS

This is a tricky one that catches people out! Let's have a look at it together. Sentence 1 is wrong. The word toys does not need an apostrophe as they do not own anything and the word hasn't should have an apostrophe but it doesn't. Sentence 2 - The word children is already plural and the word room is singular, so the apostrophe should go straight after the n and before the s. This sentence is correct. So, why is sentence 3 wrong? If the word room was plural then Sentence 3 would be correct but it isn't.

ANSWERS

Question 3

Which of the following sentences uses apostrophes correctly?

1) The neighbour's cats were last seen being chased across the farmer's field by two vicious dog's.

2) The neighbour's cats were last seen being chased across the farmers field by two vicious dogs.

3) The neighbour's cats were last seen being chased across the farmer's field by two vicious dogs.

CORRECT ANSWER

Ssentence 3

EDDIE SAYS

Did you scrutinise the sentences above for possession and contraction? If you did you would have seen that there were only two things in the sentence that suggested possession? The cats, and the field. We know this because there are two different people referenced in the sentence - the neighbours and the farmer. Sentence 1 - has three apostrophes so this must be incorrect as we do not know who the dogs belong to. Sentence 2 - does not include an apostrophe for the field that belongs to the farmer. Now we have worked this out if we take a look, the only sentence that includes an apostrophe for both of these words is Sentence 3. Is this making sense now?

ANSWERS

Question 4

Which of the following sentences uses apostrophes correctly?

1) The women's coats were hanging in the hallway.

2) The womens' coats were hanging in the hallway.

3) The womens coats' were hanging in the hallway.

CORRECT ANSWER

Sentence 1

EDDIE SAYS

Remember we are looking for possession and contractions.. This one is as tricky as the one for 'children'. The word women is already plural meaning that there is more than one women and more than one coat. So sentence 1 is correct as the apostrophe should go after the n and before the s.

ANSWERS

Question 5

Which of the following sentences uses apostrophes correctly?

1) The men's changing room is currently being redecorated so theyr'e having to use the womens' one.

2) The mens' changing room is currently being redecorated so they're having to use the womens' one.

3) The men's changing room is currently being redecorated so they're having to use the women's one.

CORRECT ANSWER

Sentence 3

EDDIE SAYS

Remember to look for possession and contraction. In this question, the changing rooms in both cases belong to men and women. Did you spot though that these words are already plural? Therefore, the apostrophe should go before the 's' and not after it.

ANSWERS

Question 6

Can you select the words where an apostrophe is missing to make this sentence grammatically correct?

CORRECT ANSWER

Childrens clothes are on the second floor next to the mens department.

EDDIE SAYS

How did you do here? Did you look first for possession and contraction? There are two types of possession in this example, and these are that the clothes belong to the children and the department that belongs to the men. Both children and men are already in the plural form, so the apostrophe needs to go after the n and before the s. Did you get this right?

ANSWERS

Question 7

Which word would add apostrophe/s to make this sentence make sense?

CORRECT ANSWER

Mum said shell give us a lift to Joes house but we cant stay very long.

EDDIE SAYS

This sentence needed three apostrophes. Did you spot this? There are two contractions that need an apostrophe in the sentence above, 'she'll' and 'can't'. We then have one case of possession, could you see where that was? The house belongs to Joe (or his parents at least) so 'Joe's' should have an apostrophe. Let's move onto the next question!

ANSWERS

Question 8

Can you indicate which words need apostrophes in the sentence below for it to be correct?

CORRECT ANSWER

Its my parents silver wedding anniversary on Saturday so were having a party at my uncles house.

EDDIE SAYS

OK so this one was another tricky one that may have caught you out! Let's look for possession first. The parents in the sentence belong to the speaker so they need an apostrophe. The word parent is singular, so to make it plural an 's' is added. Therefore, the apostrophe must go after the 's' = parents'. The house also belongs to the uncle, so we need to show this by adding an apostrophe to the word uncle, after the e and before the s. Now, we look for contraction. Its at the start should be it is, so an appostrophe is needed to show a letter is missing = it's. The other word that is a contraction is were - in the context of this question it should be we are. So, an apostrophe is needed to show a letter missing = we're. How did you get on? If something tripped you up, why not note it down so you have it to refer back to?

ANSWERS

Question 9

Samantha has written the following sentence:

Jacks dads new car is a Porsche and hes very proud of it.

Joshua has corrected the sentence to:

Jack's dads new car is a Porsche and he's very proud of it.

Has Joshua corrected the sentence fully?

CORRECT ANSWER

EDDIE SAYS

Sadly, Joshua has still not got this quite right, did you see why? To be correct Joshua should also have included an apostrophe in the word 'dads' to that the car belongs to Jack's dad. Jack's dad's new car is a Porsche and he's very proud of it.

ANSWERS

Question 10

This time Simon has written a sentence:

The children's bikes were leaning against the fence but they weren't locked.

Hayley has changed the sentence to:

The childrens' bikes were leaning against the fence but they weren't locked.

Who is correct?

CORRECT ANSWER

Simon

EDDIE SAYS

How did you get on with this one? In actual fact, Simon is correct. The word children is already plural so we just need to include the apostrophe between the n and the s. Great, that's another activity completed. Shall we try another?

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