Plural vs Possessive in Nouns · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Dogs, Dog's, or Dogs'?

English · Grammar & Punctuation · ages 8-9
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. In 'The farmers' field is wide', the field belongs to only one farmer.

    Circle one:   True   False

  2. Which word shows that something belongs to many cats?

    • cats
    • cat's
    • cats'

  3. In 'the farmer's hat', what does the word 'farmer's' tell you?

    • There is more than one farmer.
    • Many farmers share one hat.
    • One farmer owns the hat.

  4. Which word means something that belongs to ONE dog?

    • dogs
    • dogs'
    • dog's

  5. One of these sentences is missing an apostrophe. Which one?

    • The birds flew south for winter.
    • Two birds sat on the fence.
    • The birds nest fell out of the tree.

  6. Read this: 'The four pups' tails wagged.' What does it tell you?

    • One pup owns all the tails.
    • There are no pups in the sentence.
    • Four pups, and the tails belong to them.

  7. Three girls share one locker. Which sentence is correct?

    • The girls' locker is full.
    • The girls locker is full.
    • The girl's locker is full.

  8. Jack wrote: 'My two friends bikes are outside.' Something is missing. What is the fix?

    • 'friends' should be 'friend's'
    • 'friends' should be 'friends''
    • There is no mistake

  9. Maya wrote: 'All the girl's coats were soaked after the rain.' She meant every girl in her class. What is the fix?

    • 'girl's' should be 'girls''
    • 'girl's' should be 'girls'
    • There is no mistake

  10. The toys belong to the children. Which phrase says that correctly?

    • the childrens' toys
    • the children's toys
    • the childrens toys
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Dogs, Dog's, or Dogs'? W1-mt_bn5ggh84qD-s1

  1. False · The apostrophe after the s means many farmers own the field, not one.
  2. cats' · Many owners need the apostrophe after the s: cats'.
  3. One farmer owns the hat. · The apostrophe before the s shows one owner: the farmer owns the hat.
  4. dog's · dog's has the apostrophe right before the s, which shows one dog owns something.
  5. The birds nest fell out of the tree. · The nest belongs to a bird, so it needs an apostrophe: the bird's nest or the birds' nest.
  6. Four pups, and the tails belong to them. · pups' has the apostrophe after the s, so many pups own the tails, and four tells you how many.
  7. The girls' locker is full. · Many owners means the apostrophe goes after the s, so it's girls'.
  8. 'friends' should be 'friends'' · Two friends own the bikes, so the apostrophe goes after the s: friends'.
  9. 'girl's' should be 'girls'' · She meant many girls owning coats, so the apostrophe moves after the s: girls'.
  10. the children's toys · Children is a plural that does not end in s, so add apostrophe plus s: the children's toys.
Worksheet · LightMySky