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Year 5

Using apostrophes for contraction, singular possession and plural possession

I can accurately punctuate sentences including apostrophes for contraction, singular possession or plural possession.

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Share activities with pupils
New
New
Year 5

Using apostrophes for contraction, singular possession and plural possession

I can accurately punctuate sentences including apostrophes for contraction, singular possession or plural possession.

Download all resources
Share activities with pupils

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. An apostrophe is an important piece of punctuation with more than one purpose.
  2. An apostrophe can contract two words together.
  3. An apostrophe can show if a noun belongs to another singular noun.
  4. An apostrophe can show if a noun belongs to another plural noun.
  5. Contractions are useful in writing to indicate a character's informal speech.

Keywords

  • Apostrophe for contraction - a punctuation mark used to contract two words together

  • Apostrophe for possession - a punctuation mark used to show if a noun belongs to another singular or plural noun

  • Singular - only one

  • Plural - more than one

Common misconception

Pupils may believe all plural nouns end in s.

Emphasise that several very common plural nouns do not end in s - make a list of these to keep.


To help you plan your year 5 English lesson on: Using apostrophes for contraction, singular possession and plural possession, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Apostrophes have several purposes, which will need to be regularly reviewed in shared reading and writing. Encourage children to use contractions when writing dialogue to show judicious and precise use of informal, colloquial character's tone.
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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Prior knowledge starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of these pieces of punctuation can be used to add parenthesis to a sentence?

Correct answer: dashes
full stops
apostrophes
Correct answer: brackets

Q2.
Which of these sentences uses dashes correctly to add parenthesis?

Correct answer: The eagle swooped - fast as lightning - towards its innocent prey.
The eagle - swooped fast as lightning - towards its innocent prey.
The eagle swooped fast - as lightning - towards its innocent prey.

Q3.
Which words in this sentence could be placed between dashes to show parenthesis? 'A siren loud as thunder woke us in an instant.'

a siren
Correct answer: loud as thunder
a siren woke us in an instant

Q4.
Which words in this sentence could be placed between dashes to show parenthesis? 'The cave dark and vast and empty echoed with the sound of our whispers.'

the cave echoed with the sound of our whispers
Correct answer: dark and vast and empty
the cave echoed

Q5.
Which of these sentences creates the most intense effect of sadness for the reader?

The child sat down and cried.
The child - in jeans and a t-shirt - sat down and cried.
Correct answer: The child - alone and abandoned in the empty playground - sat down and cried.

Q6.
Which of these pieces of parenthesis could be added to this sentence to create an effect of fear? 'The forest surrounded them on all sides.'

Correct answer: dark and endless
bright as the midday sun
a glorious expanse of greenery

Assessment exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following can an apostrophe be used to show?

Correct answer: contraction
correction
Correct answer: possession
position

Q2.
Which sentence below uses both apostrophes for contraction correctly?

They'd told us it was'nt ready yet.
Correct answer: They'd told us it wasn't ready yet.
Theyd' told us it wasn't ready yet.

Q3.
Which words in this sentence could be contracted using an apostrophe? 'We should have given it to him, but he had told us to wait.'

given it
Correct answer: should have
Correct answer: he had
told us

Q4.
Match each 'possession' idea to the sentence that uses it. Each sentence uses an apostrophe for singular possession.

Correct Answer:an opinion belonging to Sam,I disagreed with Sam's opinion.

I disagreed with Sam's opinion.

Correct Answer:beliefs belonging to Lucas,We respected Lucas' beliefs.

We respected Lucas' beliefs.

Correct Answer:personality belonging to Jun,Because I like Jun's personality, we're good friends.

Because I like Jun's personality, we're good friends.

Correct Answer:a neighbour belonging to Alex,We all dislike Alex's neighbour because he is rude to us.

We all dislike Alex's neighbour because he is rude to us.

Q5.
Which sentence correctly uses the apostrophe for plural possession for the idea 'the tired passengers belonging to the ships'?

The ships' tired passenger's got off at the port.
Correct answer: The ships' tired passengers got off at the port.
The ship's tired passengers got off at the port.

Q6.
Tick the sentences that use an apostrophe for plural possession correctly.

The childrens' appalling behaviour shocked Mrs Begum.
Correct answer: The children's appalling behaviour shocked Mrs Begum.
Correct answer: The people's huge sacrifices made all the difference.
The persons' huge sacrifices made all the difference.