The note
How schools teach it now
Schools teach two uses: contraction, where the apostrophe shows missing letters (do not, don't), and possession (the dog's bowl, the dogs' bowls, the children's coats). Plain plurals never take an apostrophe. 'Its' (belonging) has none; 'it's' means 'it is' or 'it has'.
5-minute kitchen-table activity
Go on an apostrophe hunt with food packets, shop signs or a shopping list. For each one, your child says whether it shows missing letters or belonging. Look out for wrong ones too, like 'banana's 50p': spotting other people's mistakes is great practice.
Worked example
Which sentence uses apostrophes correctly? A: The girls' coats were hanging on the pegs. B: The girl's coats' were hanging on the pegs. C: The girls coat's were hanging on the pegs. D: The girls's coats were hanging on the pegs.
- 'coats' is a plain plural, so it needs no apostrophe. That rules out B and C.
- The coats belong to the girls, and 'girls' already ends in s.
- So the apostrophe goes after the s: girls'. 'girls's' is never right.
Answer: A: The girls' coats were hanging on the pegs.
Common mistakes to watch for
- Adding an apostrophe to every plural (apple's, car's).
- Writing 'it's' for belonging: 'the dog wagged it's tail'.
- Putting it in the wrong place for plurals: childrens' instead of children's.
Encouragement
- Try saying
- “Is it showing missing letters or belonging? Let's decide together.”
- Rather than
- “Apostrophes just go before the s.”