Grade by Grade
B. Foundations of Language · Cursive, Spelling and Sentences

Possessive Nouns: One Owner or Many?

B3.2 B3.3About 35 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can use a possessive noun to show who owns something.
  • I can add 's when there is one owner: the girl's skates.
  • I can add just an apostrophe when a plural owner ends in s: the girls' skates.
  • I can add 's to plurals that don't end in s: the children's toys.
  • I can tell possessives apart from plain plurals, which have no apostrophe.

Words to know

possessive noun
A noun that shows who or what owns something, like Mia's in Mia's hat.
apostrophe
A punctuation mark ( ' ) that looks like a raised comma.
singular
One. dog is a singular noun.
plural
More than one. dogs and mice are plural nouns.
irregular plural
A plural that doesn't just add -s, like children, men or mice.

Remember from Grade 2

In Grade 2 you learned that adding 's shows who owns something: Sam's hat, the dog's bone. A word like Sam's is a possessive noun.

But what if many dogs share the bones? Or many children share the toys? In Grade 3 you will learn where the apostrophe goes when there is more than one owner.

🐕🦴
One dog owns one bone: the dog's bone.
🐕🐕🐕🦴🦴🦴
Three dogs own the bones: the dogs' bones.

Two steps

Step 1: Write the owner word. Is there one owner, or more than one? Write the singular or the plural.

Step 2: Add the apostrophe.

  • If the owner word does not end in s, add 's.
  • If the owner word is a plural that ends in s, add just an apostrophe ' after the s.
Write the owner word, then add the apostrophe.girl'sgirls'children'sone owneradd 'splural ends in sadd ' onlyplural, no sadd 's
The three kinds of possessive nouns
OwnerOwner wordPossessiveExample
one girlgirlgirl'sthe girl's skates (one girl)
many girlsgirlsgirls'the girls' skates (many girls)
one teacherteacherteacher'sthe teacher's desk
many teachersteachersteachers'the teachers' room
many childrenchildrenchildren'sthe children's books
many peoplepeoplepeople'sthe people's cheers
many micemicemice'sthe mice's cheese
Making possessive nouns
Worked example

Let's write a plural possessive

Write a shorter way to say: the nests that belong to the birds (many birds).

  1. Step 1: How many owners? Many birds. Write the plural: birds.
  2. Step 2: Does birds end in s? Yes. So add just an apostrophe after the s: birds'.
  3. Then add what they own: nests.

the birds' nests

Worked example

Let's do an irregular plural

Write a shorter way to say: the boots that belong to the men.

  1. Step 1: Owners: men (plural of man).
  2. Step 2: Does men end in s? No. So add 's: men's.
  3. Add what they own.

the men's boots

Plural or possessive?

Not every word that ends in s needs an apostrophe! Ask: Does something belong to it?

  • The cats are sleeping. No one owns anything. Plain plural: no apostrophe.
  • The cat's bowl is empty. The bowl belongs to one cat: 's.
  • The cats' bowls are empty. The bowls belong to many cats: s'.
Just for fun

The cat's pyjamas belong to one very fancy cat. The cats' pyjamas means a whole closet full of tiny pyjamas! One little apostrophe makes a big difference.

Names ending in s

For a name that already ends in s, like Chris or James, most writers add 's: Chris's coat, James's book. You might also see Chris' coat in some books. Use the way your teacher shows you.

Why use possessives?

A possessive often lets you say something in fewer words. the hockey sticks of the players becomes the players' hockey sticks. Shorter and smoother!

Hands-on activity

Owner labels

You need: sticky notes or paper scraps, a pencil, and things around your home.

  1. Find things that belong to one person: write labels like Dad's mug, Nora's pillow.
  2. Find things that belong to more than one person or animal: my parents' room, the kids' boots, the cats' toys.
  3. For each label, say the two steps out loud: "Owner word is parents. It ends in s. So just add an apostrophe."
  4. Stick the labels on the things for a day. Can someone in your family check if each one is right?
  5. Bonus: write one label with an irregular plural, like the children's games.

Your turn

1

Write a possessive: the tail of the fox (one fox).

2

Write a possessive: the den of the foxes (many foxes).

3

Write a possessive: the toys of the children.

4

Plural or possessive? The students lined up.

5

Fix it: The two sisters bikes are red.

6

Write a possessive: the hats of the women.

More practice: warm-up

1

Write a possessive: the ball of the dog (one dog).

2

Write a possessive: the scarf of Grandma.

3

Does the kittens need an apostrophe in The kittens are cute?

4

One player owns a helmet. Write it.

5

Many players own helmets. Write it.

More practice: on your own

1

Write a possessive: the leaves of the trees (many trees).

2

Write a possessive: the cheese of the mice.

3

Which is right for one owner: the baby's blanket or the babies' blanket?

4

Fix it: The geeses' nest was by the pond.

5

Write a sentence using classmates' correctly.

Challenge

1

Explain the difference: my brother's friends and my brothers' friends.

2

Fix all the mistakes: The dog's chased the squirrels tail.

3

Write the possessives for people and moose (many moose).

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which shows the bikes of many boys?

2.

Which is correct for the toys of the children?

3.

Which sentence needs no apostrophe?

4.

What does the teacher's books mean?

5.

Which is correct for the nest of one bird?

6.

Which is correct for the coats of the women?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 3 students learn the function of possessive nouns (B3.2), including plural possessives, and use apostrophes correctly (B3.3). Singular possessives (Sam's) were taught in Grade 2. The new part is plural possessives (the girls' team) and irregular plural possessives (the children's books).

The two-step method: (1) write the owner, singular or plural; (2) if it is a plural ending in s, add only an apostrophe; otherwise, add 's.

How to help at home:

  • Label things at home together (my parents' car, the kids' room).
  • When reading, point out apostrophes and ask: one owner or more?

Common difficulties:

  • Apostrophes on every plural (apple's for sale). This is very common, even on shop signs! Ask: "Does something belong to it?"
  • childrens' or mens': the plural already doesn't end in s, so it's children's, men's.
  • Putting the apostrophe in the wrong place (the boy's when there are many boys). Always find the owner word first.
  • Names ending in s: both Chris's and Chris' appear in print; follow the teacher's preference.