Grammar Unit 1: Lesson 3
Plurals, Possessives,
and Contractions!
Oh, MY!
DEFINITION
A POSSESSIVE NOUN is a noun
that shows ownership or possession of
things or qualities.
Ling’s birthday cake
How to form possessive
nouns:
Nouns
To Form
Possessive
Add an
All singular
nouns; plural apostrophe and
s (‘s)
nouns not
ending in S
Plural nouns
ending in S
Examples
A girl—a girl’s name
The bus—the bus’s route
Children—children’s toys
Mr. Nevins—Mr. Nevins’s tie
Add just an
Babies—babies’ bottle
apostrophe (‘) at The Joneses—the Joneses’ car
the end of the
plural noun.
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 Practice
Write the possessive form of the noun in parentheses.
1. The hawk stole the eggs from that (bird) nest.
bird’s
2. (Janel) entry in the soapbox derby won first
place.
Janel’s
3. (Oscar) claws are very sharp.
4. The three (students) homework was accepted
one day late.
5. (Mr. Nevins) tie is always around his neck.
6. The (bus) wheels go round and round.
Oscar’s
students’
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 chart
Singular
Noun
Singular
Possessive
Plural Noun
Plural
Possessive
Noun
Contraction
woman
woman’s
women
women’s
woman’s
echo
echo’s
echoes
echoes’
country
country’s
countries
countries’
speaker
speaker’s
speakers
speakers’
echo’s
country’s
speaker’s
Guided Practice
Identify 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.
Plural noun
2. Elvis’s cage is in the 7B science room.
Singular Poss.
3. Micky Rodgers’s bus arrives at 7:25 am.
Singular Poss.
4. Skylar’s the illustrator for that book.
5. The children’s mittens are lost.
6. My two sneakers’ laces are too short.
contraction
Plural Poss.
Plural poss.
Testing Your Knowledge
1. 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.