Apostrophes: Contraction and Possession
Use apostrophes in writing for both contraction (marking omitted letters) and singular possession, distinguishing the two uses
What a learner can do afterwards
- Use apostrophes correctly in both 'don't' and 'Sam's bag' within the same piece of writing
- Explain the difference between apostrophe for contraction and apostrophe for possession
- Correct misplaced or missing apostrophes in a set of sentences
1 · Read
An apostrophe looks like a tiny floating comma. It does two different jobs you will use when you write. Sometimes it shows that letters are missing from a word. Sometimes it shows that something belongs to someone.
Leo has a bike. It is Leo's bike. The apostrophe and s after his name show that the bike belongs to him, not to anyone else.
To tell the two jobs apart, ask yourself a question. Are two words squashed into one, with letters missing? That is a contraction, like don't or it's. Does something belong to someone? That is possession, like Sam's bag or the cat's tail.
One little mark, two jobs: missing letters make a contraction, and apostrophe plus s shows something belongs to someone.
The rewritten readings were written for this dataset.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.