Trickier apostrophes

Children will have learnt in Year 2 that 's is added to singular nouns to show possession (the cat's tail).  This is usually the same for a proper noun that already ends in s.  Examples are Charles's car, James's book.  When possession is shown in this way, the additional s is pronounced.  

As with everything in our language, there are exceptions to be found: for example, St. James's Park in London uses the 's, whereas St. James' Park, home of Exeter City FC, just uses the apostrophe on its own.  Very often the exceptions relate to names of places or organisations, so it is a good idea to check the source through an official document or website.

Sometimes names end in s, but to pronounce an additional s would be awkward, e.g. Achilles' heel, not Achilles's heel.  You wouldn't say 'I watched Kevin Bridges's show.' or 'I love Saint Saens's music.' Therefore, in these instances we would just use Kevin Bridges' show and Saint Saens' music.

There is much debate over whether proper nouns ending in a sibilant sound (/s/ or /z/) should take 's or just the apostrophe to indicate possession.  Writers make a choice about which convention they use and children will find exceptions and will delight in pointing these out to their teachers and parents.  I believe, when working with children, best practice would be consistency in adding 's, unless this makes the word awkward to say, or we just wouldn't even consider pronouncing the additional s.

Using apostrophes to show singular possession

In Year 2, children will learn that an apostrophe + s ('s) is added to singular nouns to show possession: 

• the dog's ball (the ball belongs to the dog)
• the flower's petals (the petals belong to the flower)
• the car's wheels (the wheels belong to the car)

You can help your child learn about using apostrophes in this way by using a picture of an animal or a vehicle, where you can name various parts.  First list the parts of the animal or vehicle they can see.

 tail    head    ears    whiskers    eyes    paws    nose

Discuss with your child how you can say that these parts belong to the cat.  Point to different parts and ask them to tell you 'the cat's tail', 'the cat's whiskers', etc.  When they can talk the picture, ask them to write the words.  If they write 'the cats tail', ask how many cats they can see.  How can we make sure the reader knows there is only one cat?  We use an apostrophe before the s.  If you print out the picture, or use one from a magazine, they could label the picture.

The process is usually the same for a proper noun that already ends in s.  Examples are Charles's car, James's book.  When possession is shown in this way, the additional s is pronounced.  For information on trickier apostrophes, click here.

Apostrophes to show where letters are missing (contractions)

In English we can use apostrophes to show where one or more letters have been missed out:  don't (do not), I'm (I am), They're (They are).  These are often referred to as 'contractions' because the words have been made shorter.

We tend to use contractions in speech, because they are quicker to use than saying the two words in full.  This sort of abbreviation is not used in writing where formal, Standard English is required: children will need to learn that they are useful for informal writing, such as speech in stories, plays and forms non-fiction where writing is more conversational, e.g. newspaper quotes, some persuasive writing, etc.

The apostrophe should be used in the position where the letter/s are omitted, e.g. can’t (cannot), it’s (it is), you're (you are), they'll (they will). These apostrophes help the reader distinguish between words which use the same letters: I’ll – ill, he’ll – hell, we’re – were.

The following table lists some of the most common contractions and their full versions.  You can use these in two ways with your children:

• Show them the contracted version and ask them what it means.  What is it short for?  Discuss what letters are missing.  What is the punctuation mark that replaces the missing letters?
• Show them the full, two-word version.  How could we make this shorter?  What word do we usually use instead of these two words?  What letters do we miss out?  What punctuation mark do we need to use instead of the letters?  How do we write it? (Make sure they use the apostrophe above the line – not as they would use a comma!)

I’m	I am	they’re	they are
I’ll	I will	they’ll	they will
you’re	you are	can’t	cannot
you’ll	you will	don’t	do not
he’s	he is	didn’t	did not
he’ll	he will	shan’t	shall not
she’s	she is	won’t	will not
she’ll	she will	mustn’t	must not
it’s	it is	hasn’t	has not
it’ll	it will	haven’t	have not
we’re	we are	hadn’t	had not
we’ll	we will	aren’t	are not

Thoughts about English grammar

The grammar of a language is really just the patterns (or order) of words, phrases and clauses that can be used to make sense.  If we use the correct order, we can be understood; if not, we will find it hard to communicate.  Children pick this up at a very early age.  They hear speech and start to make sense of the structure of our language long before they learn to read and write.  As soon as your child starts to understand you when you speak and starts to use words in order to communicate with you, they are using the rules of English grammar.   Of course, they don’t understand that they are using rules; they are just picking up the patterns in the language subconsciously and are rewarded in this learning by the communication with others that it enables.

We often think of English as having a subject (S), verb (V), object (O) word order.  (Subjects, verbs and objects are not the only sentence elements, but we will consider the others later.)  The subject in this structure is the main person, object or place we are considering: who or what the sentence is about.  The verb is the action or state of being/having in the sentence.  Not all sentences have objects but, where they do, this is the person, object or place affected by the verb.  Let's look at some examples.

The boy kicked the ball.      The dog chased the cat.       Dad had a cold.

Young children usually start to focus on the subject: they are concerned with communicating to you what they are talking about.  They may point at something and say the word, e.g. teddy, car, doggie.

As their communication improves, they move on to subject and verb:

Baby cry

Mummy gone

Car crashed

In a short space of time, dependent on the amount of verbal stimulation they experience, their vocabulary and speaking patterns expand dramatically and their attempts to speak increasingly conform to the patterns of English grammar.  

However, when we speak, we don’t speak in sentences, but in a stream of words, phrases and clauses, often joined together with words such as and, but, then, so, etc.  We use the correct grammar or word order, but we certainly don’t punctuate.  Rather, we use body language, expression, tone and volume to help our listener understand us.  And of course, the context is usually shared, so we easily understand each other.  Most pre-school children are able to communicate very effectively, using the grammar patterns of our language. Then we send them to school. 

To read and write, children need to learn new skills in order to communicate.  They use the same English grammar, but need to learn the conventions of punctuation so that they can understand and communicate in a different way.  When reading, they can understand something without the author being present; when writing, they need to communicate to a distant audience.

When children start to write, they once again use basic patterns.   They may have more information in their heads about what they want to write, but focusing on all the technical aspects, e.g. handwriting, spelling, often interferes with the quality of the content. 

As they become more comfortable with the process of writing, we need to help them understand how they can extend sentences to provide additional detail and use punctuation to help their reader understand what they mean.  Using the correct grammatical terminology will help them to talk about parts of sentences and develop these to improve their writing.