Year 4 · SPaG · Apostrophes
Year 4 recognising apostrophes worksheet and PowerPoint
To recognise why an apostrophe has been used: missing letters or possession.
Apostrophes
An apostrophe (’) has two jobs. It shows that letters are missing (a contraction) and it shows that something belongs to someone (possession). It is never used to make a plural.
| missing letters | do not → don’t, she is → she’s, we will → we’ll |
|---|---|
| one owner | the girl’s coat, James’s bike |
| many owners ending in s | the girls’ coats |
| plural not ending in s | the children’s coats, the men’s hats |
| not for plurals | two dogs (not dog’s) |
Examples
- I can’t find Maya’s book.
- The teachers’ cars are in the car park.
Key words
- apostrophe
- a mark ’ that shows missing letters or belonging
- contraction
- two words joined into one with letters missing
- possession
- when something belongs to someone
- plural
- more than one
What is on the worksheet
Every sheet for this lesson has a short teaching box and 12 questions that get gradually harder: 8 fluency questions, then 4 reasoning questions that ask pupils to explain or choose. A writing challenge follows. The questions use the same styles as the key stage 2 grammar and punctuation test (circle, underline, tick, fill the gap, add punctuation, rewrite, explain). They are written for this website, not copied from past papers.
All the answers are on the last page of the same editable Word file. New questions are made every time, so you can print a different sheet for every group or for homework. The same sheet code always gives the same sheet.
Writing challenge: Find ten words with an apostrophe in a book. Sort them into missing letters and belonging.
Pupil target: I can say why an apostrophe is there.
The PowerPoint
A 20-slide lesson deck for the same lesson: a starter that revisits earlier learning, key words, an I do and a You do question on each slide with a countdown timer, answers that appear one click at a time, and a challenge. Download the recognising apostrophes PowerPoint.
Where this lesson fits
This is lesson 9 of 60 in the Year 4 SPaG scheme, in the block “Apostrophes”.
Other lessons in this block
- Apostrophes for plural possession
- When not to use an apostrophe
- Possession or contraction
- Apostrophes together
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