What is a Possessive Apostrophe?

What is a possessive apostrophe?

An apostrophe can be used to show that one thing belongs to or is connected to something. This is called a possessive apostrophe or an apostrophe to show possession.

How to use apostrophes correctly

When children are learning how to apply possessive apostrophe rules, it can get a little unclear, but hopefully this guide will give you some great examples to use when explaining possessive apostrophes for your children.

Read the rules and possessive apostrophe examples to understand how this punctuation works.

Firstly, deciding on when to use a possessive or common apostrophe can vary. It depends on the type of noun you’re making into a possessive. Here is a general rule of thumb for singular nouns and plural nouns:

1. When using singular nouns, add apostrophe + s. For example:

• The dog's leash.
• The writer's desk.
• The planet's atmosphere.

2. For most plural nouns where the word already ends in 's' (when you have multiple subjects that you're discussing), add only an apostrophe after the noun. For example:

• The dogs' leashes (multiple dogs).
• The writers' desks (multiple writers).
• The planets' atmospheres (multiple planets).

3. For possessive pronouns (e.g., yours, theirs, mine) do not use apostrophes to form possessives.

A great way to remember the possessive apostrophe rules is to remember these three things:

• For single nouns, add an apostrophe and an 's'.
• For plural nouns, just add an apostrophe after the 's'.
• If it's a personal possessive pronoun, it doesn't need an apostrophe at all.

Even though these rules will show you how to use apostrophes correctly in most cases, there are still exceptions in the English language. If you encounter a singular noun that ends in s (class, Jess), you should use the plural noun rule and just add an apostrophe. For a plural noun that doesn’t end in s, use the singular noun rule and add an apostrophe and ‘s’.

How to use apostrophes correctly — Common exceptions

The English language is made up of several source languages, from Germanic and Scandinavian languages to Latin, Spanish, and French. Due to this, there are often exceptions to common grammatical rules, sometimes it can feel like there are more exceptions to the rules than words that follow the rules.

Here is how to use apostrophes correctly in a few different commonly found exceptions:

Which is correct — children's or childrens?

Placing the apostrophe in words like 'children' can be difficult. It's a plural, but it doesn't look like one because it doesn't end in 's'.

To show possession, you add an apostrophe to the end of 'children' and then finish with an 's': children's. For example:

• children's clothes;
• children's books.

Shared or Individual Possessives

In some sentences, two or more subjects are shown to have possession of something. When do you use apostrophes, then?

1. Joint Possession

Joint (or shared) possession is shown by a single apostrophe on the last subject.

• It was Luna and Tilly's idea.
• We're going to Mum and Dad's house.

2. Individual Possession

Individual possession is shown by apostrophes on each subject.

• Carly's and Lucy's dogs are so cute.
• Grandma's and Grandad's presents should be arriving soon.

Using Apostrophes after a Name

We can make use of the apostrophe when referring to a person, writing a name, to indicate possession to that person. However, we can run into the same exceptions. Some names end in ‘s’.

For names that don't end with an 's', we would add an apostrophe and then an 's' afterwards. Here are some examples:

• Lucy's
• Seren's
• Charlie's
• Sid's
• Rameena's

For names that already end with an 's', we just add an apostrophe to the end.

• James'
• Chris'
• Alexis'
• Travis'
• Lucas'

Even though they're proper nouns, they follow the same rules as regular nouns in this case.

Adding apostrophes to surnames can also be confusing, here's why:

• We can use surnames to talk about a single person in a household (May — e.g., Mrs May — drives a red car)
• We can use surnames to refer to the whole family unit (The May’s house is down the road)
• Some surnames can also end in 's', which muddles things further.

Let's take a look at some examples.

• The Smiths' house — The house belonging to the family, whose surname is 'Smith'. There are multiple people in the family, so 'Smith' is plural. Since it's now plural with an 's' at the end, we simply add an apostrophe to show possession.
• Smith's house — The singular 'Smith' suggests we're just talking about one person here. It's an individual rather than a group of people in a family, so we follow the singular noun rule for possessive apostrophes by adding the apostrophe and then the 's'.

Using Apostrophes for Contractions

When it comes to using apostrophes with contractions, it’s really all about placement. When you form contractions, you will always take out letters in order to combine the two words. In the placement of these lost letters, you should place an apostrophe.

For examples:

• you + have = you've (you took out ‘ha’)
• can + not = can't (you took out ‘no’)
• they + will = they'll (you took out ‘wi’)

There is, however, one exception to this rule, which is otherwise universal. The exception applies to the word ‘won’t’ which is formed from the words ‘will + not’. In this case, a new word is formed by adding letters as well as omitting them.

Using Apostrophes with Surrounding Punctuation

When an apostrophe is added, it becomes part of the word it has been attached to. Therefore, it should never be separated from that word. This still applies when the apostrophe is surrounded by other punctuation.

For example:

• “When were you born, darlin’?”, asked the man. Mary thought for a moment and then replied, “Around the late ’90s.”
• “Why are you wearing that awful jumper?”, exclaimed the girl. “’Cause my mum forced me to”, moped the boy.

Using Apostrophes to Show Plural Possession

When it comes to regular nouns, the plural form is made by adding either the letter s or es.

For example:

• Girl — girls
• Friend — friends
• Actress — actresses
• Church — churches

To show possession in the plural form, all you have to do is put an apostrophe after the s.

For example:

• Girls — girls’ (girl + s + apostrophe)
• Friend — friends’ (friend + s + apostrophe)
• Actress — actresses’ (actress + es + apostrophe)
• Church — churches’ (church + es + apostrophe)

Common Mistakes

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when showing possession with plural nouns, is placing the apostrophe before the s.

For example:

• The girl’s bathroom was always full at lunchtime.

This is incorrect because, by placing the apostrophe before the s, it implies that the bathroom belongs to one individual girl, as opposed to girls in general. Instead, it should be written as:

• The girls’ bathroom was always full at lunchtime.

Another common mistake that happens when making a regular noun plural, is using an apostrophe + s to create the plural form.

For example:

Correct: Computers are very expensive nowadays.

Incorrect: Computer’s are very expensive nowadays.

Correct: Generally speaking, actresses are paid less than actors.

Incorrect: Generally speaking, actress’s are paid less than actors.

The only exception to this rule is that sometimes an apostrophe + s is added when creating the plural form of a word that is not usually a noun.

For example:

• Have a look at these do’s and don’ts.

This is not a universal technique for creating the plural form of words that aren’t typically nouns, but some writers use it because they feel its adds clarity.

Using Apostrophes with Plural Irregular Nouns

In the English language, there are a range of irregular nouns which, in the process of becoming plural, change their spelling completely.

For example:

• Child — children
• Foot — feet
• Woman — women
• Person — people

In order to show possession with these irregular nouns, you must add an apostrophe + s after the irregular word.

For example:

• On the school trip, all of the children’s hats were bright red to make them easy to identify.
• The city centre was super busy on Saturday because of the women’s march.

Instead of this, people often put the apostrophe after the s.

For example:

Incorrect: On the school trip, all of the childrens’ hats were bright red to make them easy to identify.

Incorrect: The city centre was super busy on Saturday because of the womens’ march.

Things get more complicated when it comes to possessive plurals of proper names ending in s, ch, and z.

For examples:

• Hernandez
• Lloyds
• Birch

Normally, when putting a proper noun, such as Smith in the plural possessive form, you just add an s + apostrophe; this would give you Smiths’. However, this isn’t the case for proper nouns ending in s, ch, and z.

If someone’s name ends in s, ch, z, in order to make it plural, you must add es.

For example:

• Hernandez — Hernandezes
• Lloyds — Lloydses
• Birch — Birches

Then, to show possession, you just add an apostrophe.

For examples:

• The Hernandezes’ party is this Saturday at 10 pm.
• The Lloydses’ dog just had a litter of puppies.
• The Birches home just underwent massive renovations.

This can often look strange, but it is technically correct.

Using Apostrophes with Singular Compound Nouns

In terms of showing possession with singular compound nouns, such as father-in-law, you must add an apostrophe + s at the end of the word.

For example:

• My father-in-law’s car is very fancy.
• The passer-by’s expression was one of confusion.
• The girl ruined her step-sister’s favourite jumper at the birthday party.

To show possession in the plural form for a compound noun, all you have to do is form the plural first and then add an apostrophe + s.

For example:

• My two sisters-in-law’s houses are on the same street.

Teaching the possessive apostrophe

Now that we know what possessive apostrophes are and how to use them, how do we bring them into the classroom?

In year 2, children will learn to 'spell by learning the possessive apostrophe (singular)'. They'll learn how to add the possessive apostrophe to singular nouns in order to show possession. It's a tricky spelling rule, which is why teaching is kept to singular nouns at this stage.

As they move into years 3 and 4, the national curriculum states that pupils will begin to demonstrate an ability to 'indicate possession by using the possessive apostrophe and plural nouns'.

By the end of year 4, children should have a solid understanding of how to use an apostrophe to show possession for both singular and plural nouns.

If you'd like support on teaching this topic, then you're in the right place. Twinkl has plenty of resources and guidance on how to introduce this new form of punctuation to your class. Find worksheets, PowerPoints, resource packs and display resources for your classroom.

KS1 Resources (singular)

Year 2 Apostrophes for Possession Warm-Up PowerPoint

This PowerPoint is a brilliant way to start off your lesson and introduce your pupils to the apostrophe for the first time. It includes a variety of activities for children to complete, so it'll keep them engaged throughout, too.

Possessive Apostrophes Differentiated Worksheet Pack

See what children have learnt with this worksheet pack. Children have to write sentences that include a singular noun that needs an apostrophe. The worksheets are available differentiated, so you can tailor them to your class too.

Using an Apostrophe of Possession with Singular and Proper Nouns SPaG PowerPoint Quiz

Who doesn't love a quiz? This one is a fun and interactive way for children to practise their use of possessive apostrophes. Play with the whole class and see how many they can get right.

KS2 Resources (singular and plural)

Using the Possessive Apostrophe PowerPoint

Check out this fantastic PowerPoint. A great tool for introducing this topic to the whole class, it covers singular and plural possessive apostrophe use and has questions for children to answer.

Using Apostrophes of Possession with Plural Nouns SPaG Lesson Teaching Pack

Don't have much time to plan your lesson? That's where this teaching pack comes in. It includes an informative PowerPoint, as well as a range of worksheets.

Possessive Apostrophe Activity

Test what your pupils have learnt so far with this activity. They should add a possessive apostrophe to a mix of singular and plural nouns.