Year 4 — Punctuation

Punctuation for speech and possession

Use inverted commas for speech, apostrophes for contraction (don't, can't), and possessive apostrophes to show something belongs to someone.

Back to Year 4

💡Understand

A POSSESSIVE APOSTROPHE shows something belongs to someone — add 's for one owner (the dog's bone), or just an apostrophe after the s for more than one owner (the dogs' bones, meaning several dogs). This is different from a CONTRACTION apostrophe, which shows missing letters (don't = do not).

“The girl's book was on the teacher's desk. The girls' books were all returned by Friday.”

"The girl's book" means one girl owns the book (apostrophe before the s). "The girls' books" means several girls own several books (apostrophe after the s, since 'girls' is already plural).

🔍Spot it

Is this apostrophe showing possession or contraction?

Question 1

The cat's whiskers twitched.

💡 'Cat's' shows the whiskers belong to the cat — possession.

Question 2

I can't find my shoes.

💡 'Can't' is short for 'cannot' — a contraction, not possession.

Question 3

The players' kits were all muddy after the match.

💡 The apostrophe after 's' shows MULTIPLE players own the kits — plural possession.

🧠Think about it

Why does 'the dog's bone' (one dog) look different from 'the dogs' bones' (several dogs)?

✍️Try it

Choose the correctly punctuated possessive.

You want to show that a bag belongs to one teacher.

Question 1

Which shows correct possession for ONE teacher?

💡 For one owner, the apostrophe goes before the s.

📝Practise

Choose the correctly punctuated sentence each time.

Question 1

Show possession for ONE dog's lead.

Question 2

Show possession for SEVERAL students' books.

Question 3

Choose the correct contraction for 'do not'.

Question 4

In one phrase, what do we call an apostrophe that shows something belongs to someone?

💡 It's the third skill named in this lesson's introduction.

Question 5

Show possession for ONE bird's nest.

Question 6

Choose the correct contraction for 'she is'.

🎯Apply

Read the passage, then answer the questions below.

The children's laughter echoed through the park as they played on the swing's rusty chains. "I don't want to stop playing!" shouted one girl.

Question 1

Does 'children's' show one child or several children?

💡 'Children' is already a plural word, unlike 'girls' or 'dogs'.

Question 2

Does 'swing's' show one swing or several swings?

💡 The apostrophe comes before the 's', showing one owner.

Question 3

What contraction does the girl use in her speech, short for 'do not'?

💡 It appears in the quoted speech at the end.

🏆Challenge

Can you write a sentence showing ONE friend's toy, and a separate sentence showing SEVERAL friends' toys?

🔄Review

A quick mastery check — 3 questions.

Question 1

Show possession for ONE cat's toy.

Question 2

Show possession for SEVERAL cats' toys.

Question 3

Choose the correct contraction for 'is not'.