Grammar Unit 1: Lesson 3

Plurals, Possessives, and Contractions!

Oh, MY!

DEFINITION

A POSSESSIVE NOUN is a nounthat shows ownership or possession ofthings or qualities.

Ling’s birthday cake

How to form possessive nouns:

Nouns To Form Possessive

Examples

All singular nouns; plural nouns not ending in S

Add an apostrophe and

s (‘s)

A girl—a girl’s nameThe bus—the bus’s routeChildren—children’s toysMr. Nevins—Mr. Nevins’s tie

Plural nouns ending in S

Add just an apostrophe (‘) at the end of the plural noun.

Babies—babies’ bottleThe Joneses—the Joneses’ car

Examples

Singular Noun

Lyndell has a book about baseball.

Singular Possessive

Noun

Lyndell’s book is about baseball.

Plural Noun Several cities have baseball teams.

Plural Possessive

Noun

Several cities’ teams attract fans.

Guided PracticeWrite the possessive form of the noun in parentheses.

1. The hawk stole the eggs from that (bird)(bird) nest.

2. (Janel)(Janel) entry in the soapbox derby won first place.

3. (Oscar)(Oscar) claws are very sharp.

4. The three (students) (students) homework was accepted one day late.

5. (Mr. Nevins)(Mr. Nevins) tie is always around his neck.

6. The (bus)(bus) wheels go round and round.

bird’s

Janel’s

students’

Oscar’s

Mr. Nevins’s

bus’s

DEFINITION

A CONTRACTION is a word made by combining two words and leaving out one or more letters. An apostrophe shows where the letters have been left out.

Contractions

The speaker is happy about her presentation.

We can join the two words speaker and is to create a contraction.

SPEAKER’S

The speaker’s happy about her presentation.

Complete the following chartSingular

NounSingular

PossessivePlural Noun Plural

Possessive Noun

Contraction

woman

echo’s

countries

speakers

woman’s women women’s woman’s

echo echoes echoes’ echo’s

country country’s country’s

speaker speaker’s speakers’ speaker’s

countries’

Guided PracticeIdentify the bolded word in each sentence by writing plural noun, singular, singular

possessive noun, plural possessive noun, or contraction.

1. School hours begin at 7:40 am.

2. Elvis’s cage is in the 7B science room.

3. Micky Rodgers’s bus arrives at 7:25 am.

4. Skylar’s the illustrator for that book.

5. The children’s mittens are lost.

6. My two sneakers’ laces are too short.

Plural noun

Singular Poss.

contraction

Singular Poss.

Plural Poss.

Plural poss.

Testing Your Knowledge1. What is a possessive noun?

AN: A noun that shows ownership

2. How do you form singular possessive nouns?

AN: By adding an apostrophe s (‘s)

3. How do you form plural possessive nouns?

AN: By adding an apostrophe after the s.

4. How do you form the possessive form of plural nouns that DO NOT end in s?

AN: By adding an apostrophe and s (‘s).

5. What is a contraction?

AN: a word made by combining two words and leaving out one or more letters using an apostrophe.