Apostrophes
An apostrophe is a small mark that does two jobs: it shows where letters are missing, and it shows who owns something. In Year 3 (ACARA v9), students learn both uses — contractions, where an apostrophe replaces missing letters (do not becomes don't), and possession, where it shows something belongs to someone (the dog's bone). The key idea: the apostrophe is never just decoration — it always signals either a missing letter or ownership. Getting apostrophes right makes writing clearer and is a skill children use in every piece of writing.
Worked examples
Make a contraction from 'do not'.
An apostrophe replaces the missing letter. In do not, the o of not is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe.
Answer: don't
Make a contraction from 'it is'.
Drop the i of is and replace it with an apostrophe.
Answer: it's
Show possession: the bone belonging to the dog.
For one owner, add an apostrophe then s to the owner. dog becomes dog's.
Answer: the dog's bone
Show possession: the coats belonging to the girls.
The plural 'girls' already ends in s, so just add an apostrophe after the s.
Answer: the girls' coats
Tips
- •Ask which job the apostrophe is doing. Every apostrophe is either a missing letter (contraction) or ownership (possession) — naming the job helps a child place it correctly.
- •For one owner add apostrophe-s; for plural owners already ending in s, add just the apostrophe. The dog's bone (one dog) but the dogs' kennel (many dogs).
- •Common mistake to watch for: children often add an apostrophe to make a plural, writing 'apple's' for more than one apple. Apostrophes never make things plural — they show missing letters or ownership only.
- •Read it back the long way. If 'it's' can be stretched to 'it is' and still makes sense, the apostrophe is right; if not, it should be plain 'its'.