Plural vs Possessive s - Worksheets, Questions and Revision

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KS2 · Grammar

Y4.2 Plural vs Possessive s

Calculators not allowed · about 40 minutes

Total Marks

Name: _______________________________ Date: ____ / ____ / ______

Answer ALL questions. Show all your working.

Saturday at the Allotment Club

Source written for Revision Library (original, copyright-free). Written specifically for this grammar worksheet pack; not derived from or based on any published work, past paper or copyrighted text.

Every Saturday morning, Ravi's grandad opens the gate to the allotment club and switches on the old kettle in the shed. The gardeners arrive one by one, carrying trowels, buckets and packets of seeds. Mrs Patel's plot is the tidiest in the whole club, with rows of carrots, beetroots and lettuces lined up like soldiers. The twins' vegetable patch, on the other hand, is a cheerful mess of sunflowers, courgettes and runner beans that climb higher every week. Ravi likes to check the strawberries' progress before anyone else arrives, tasting one when nobody is looking. Last week, the children's competition for the tallest sunflower caused a great deal of excitement, and Mr Okonkwo's giant plant eventually won by a whole head. The volunteers' job on Saturdays is to water the young seedlings and pull up any weeds before the sun gets too hot. By lunchtime, the gardeners' baskets are full of fresh vegetables, and everyone shares a slice of Grandad's famous flapjack before heading home.

Read each sentence below. Each one is taken from the passage above. Tick one box to show how the underlined word is used.

(a)Is gardeners used as a plain plural, a singular possessive or a plural possessive in the sentence below?

The gardeners arrive one by one, carrying trowels, buckets and packets of seeds.(1)

A) Plain plural
B) Singular possessive
C) Plural possessive

(b)Is Mrs Patel's used as a plain plural, a singular possessive or a plural possessive in the sentence below?

Mrs Patel's plot is the tidiest in the whole club.(1)

A) Plain plural
B) Singular possessive
C) Plural possessive

(c)Is twins' used as a plain plural, a singular possessive or a plural possessive in the sentence below?

The twins' vegetable patch is a cheerful mess of sunflowers, courgettes and runner beans.(1)

A) Plain plural
B) Singular possessive
C) Plural possessive

(d)Is seedlings used as a plain plural, a singular possessive or a plural possessive in the sentence below?

The volunteers' job on Saturdays is to water the young seedlings.(1)

A) Plain plural
B) Singular possessive
C) Plural possessive

Plain plural (no possession)	Singular possessive (one owner)	Plural possessive (more than one owner)

(6)

In each set of three words below, two are the same type (plain plural, singular possessive or plural possessive) and one is different. Circle the odd one out in each set.

(a)cats cat's hats(1)

cats
cat's
hats

(b)fox's wolf's bears'(1)

fox's
wolf's
bears'

(c)teachers teacher's farmers(1)

teachers
teacher's
farmers

Circle the correct word in brackets to complete each sentence.

(a)The (gardener / gardener's) fork was left leaning against the shed.(1)

gardener
gardener's

(b)Every Saturday, three (gardener / gardeners) water the tomato plants.(1)

gardener
gardeners

(c)The (twins / twins') sunflower grew taller than the fence.(1)

twins
twins'

(d)Lots of (seedling / seedlings) need watering before the sun gets too hot.(1)

seedling
seedlings

Complete each sentence with the correct form of the noun in brackets. You may need to add just an s, or an apostrophe, or both.

(a)Every Saturday, six ___ (gardener) arrive at eight o'clock to open the gate.(1)

(b)___ (Ravi) grandad always brings a flask of tea to the allotment.(1)

(c)There are six volunteers this week. The ___ (volunteer) job is to pull up the weeds before lunchtime.(1)

(d)We picked three ___ (basket) of runner beans this morning.(1)

Complete the table below. Write the plain plural, singular possessive and plural possessive form of each noun.

Noun	Plain plural	Singular possessive (one owner)	Plural possessive (more than one owner)
fox
neighbour
child

(9)

Read the ownership scenario, then tick the sentence that punctuates the possessive noun correctly.

(a)One pony owns a saddle.(1)

A) The ponys saddle was hung in the stable.
B) The pony's saddle was hung in the stable.
C) The ponies' saddle was hung in the stable.

(b)More than one farmer shares one gate.(1)

A) The farmer's gate creaked in the wind.
B) The farmers gate creaked in the wind.
C) The farmers' gate creaked in the wind.

(c)More than one mouse (mice) shares one nest.(1)

A) The mouses' nest was hidden under the shed.
B) The mice's nest was hidden under the shed.
C) The mices nest was hidden under the shed.

Rewrite each sentence so that it is now true for more than one owner, as shown in brackets.

(a)The gardener's shed needs a new roof. (Now there are two gardeners sharing the shed.)(1)

(b)The pony's stable was freshly cleaned. (Now there are three ponies sharing the stable.)(1)

(c)The child's wellington boots were caked in mud. (Now there is a whole group of children.)(1)

Each sentence below has one apostrophe error. It might be a missing apostrophe, or an apostrophe that should not be there at all. Find the error and rewrite the sentence correctly.

(a)The children played with the puppy's in the garden.(1)

(b)The three gardeners tools were left out in the rain.(1)

(c)Fresh apple's are sold at the market stall every week.(1)

(d)The three sisters bikes were parked by the gate.(1)

The paragraph below contains three apostrophe errors: two greengrocer's apostrophes (apostrophes wrongly added to plain plurals) and one missing apostrophe (a possessive noun that needs one). Find the three errors, then rewrite the paragraph with all three corrected.

On Saturday, Ravi's friend Amir came to help for the first time. The gardener's showed him how to plant carrot's in neat rows, and by the end of the morning the two boys hands were covered in soil.

(3)

Read the two sentences below.

A) The gardener's plot was full of ripe tomatoes.
B) The gardeners' plot was full of ripe tomatoes.

Explain how the position of the apostrophe changes the meaning of the two sentences.

(2)

Look again at the passage 'Saturday at the Allotment Club' at the top of this pack. Find and write down two more plain plural nouns, and one more possessive noun (singular or plural), from the passage. Do not use gardeners, seedlings, Mrs Patel's or twins' - these already appeared in Question 1.

(3)

Write one sentence of your own for each instruction below. Use a correctly punctuated word each time.

(a)Write a sentence using a plain plural noun (no apostrophe needed).(1)

(b)Write a sentence using a singular possessive noun (one owner).(1)

(c)Write a sentence using a plural possessive noun (more than one owner, made from a regular plural ending in -s).(1)

Write a short paragraph (two to three sentences) about a club, hobby or trip of your own choosing. Your paragraph must include: one plain plural noun, one singular possessive noun, one plural possessive noun (a regular plural ending in -s') and one irregular plural possessive noun (for example men's, women's, children's or people's). Underline all four nouns and label each one.

(5)

Mark scheme · Y4.2 Plural vs Possessive s

Question 1

(a) B1 A ticked (gardeners is a plain plural - more than one gardener, no apostrophe needed) cao
(a) Answer: A) Plain plural
(b) B1 B ticked (Mrs Patel's is a singular possessive - one owner, apostrophe before the s) cao
(b) Answer: B) Singular possessive
(c) B1 C ticked (twins' is a plural possessive - more than one owner, twins already ends in s, apostrophe after the s) cao
(c) Answer: C) Plural possessive
(d) B1 A ticked (seedlings is a plain plural - more than one seedling, no apostrophe needed) cao
(d) Answer: A) Plain plural

Question 2

B1 ponies sorted as a plain plural cao
B1 builders sorted as a plain plural cao
B1 pony's sorted as a singular possessive cao
B1 builder's sorted as a singular possessive cao
B1 ponies' sorted as a plural possessive cao
B1 builders' sorted as a plural possessive cao
Answer:
Plain plural (no possession) Singular possessive Plural possessive
ponies pony's ponies'
builders builder's builders'

Plain plural (no possession)	Singular possessive	Plural possessive
ponies	pony's	ponies'
builders	builder's	builders'

Question 3

(a) B1 cat's circled cao
(a) Answer: cat's
(b) B1 bears' circled cao
(b) Answer: bears'
(c) B1 teacher's circled cao
(c) Answer: teacher's

Question 4

(a) B1 gardener's circled cao
(a) Answer: gardener's
(b) B1 gardeners circled cao
(b) Answer: gardeners
(c) B1 twins' circled cao
(c) Answer: twins'
(d) B1 seedlings circled cao
(d) Answer: seedlings

Question 5

(a) B1 gardeners cao
(a) Answer: gardeners
(b) B1 Ravi's cao
(b) Answer: Ravi's
(c) B1 volunteers' cao
(c) Answer: volunteers'
(d) B1 baskets cao
(d) Answer: baskets

Question 6

B1 foxes cao
B1 fox's cao
B1 foxes' cao
B1 neighbours cao
B1 neighbour's cao
B1 neighbours' cao
B1 children cao
B1 child's cao
B1 children's cao
Answer:
Noun Plain plural Singular possessive Plural possessive
fox foxes fox's foxes'
neighbour neighbours neighbour's neighbours'
child children child's children's

Noun	Plain plural	Singular possessive	Plural possessive
fox	foxes	fox's	foxes'
neighbour	neighbours	neighbour's	neighbours'
child	children	child's	children's

Question 7

(a) B1 B ticked (pony's) cao
(a) Answer: B) The pony's saddle was hung in the stable.
(b) B1 C ticked (farmers') cao
(b) Answer: C) The farmers' gate creaked in the wind.
(c) B1 B ticked (mice's) cao
(c) Answer: B) The mice's nest was hidden under the shed.

Question 8

(a) B1 gardeners' (apostrophe moved after the s) cao
(a) Answer: The gardeners' shed needs a new roof.
(b) B1 ponies' (plural spelling ponies, apostrophe after the s) cao
(b) Answer: The ponies' stable was freshly cleaned.
(c) B1 children's (irregular plural, apostrophe plus s, not children's with the apostrophe after the s) cao
(c) Answer: The children's wellington boots were caked in mud.

Question 9

(a) B1 puppies (apostrophe removed; puppy's is not a possessive here, just a plain plural) cao
(a) Answer: The children played with the puppies in the garden.
(b) B1 gardeners' (missing plural possessive apostrophe added) cao
(b) Answer: The three gardeners' tools were left out in the rain.
(c) B1 apples (apostrophe removed; apple's is not a possessive here, just a plain plural) cao
(c) Answer: Fresh apples are sold at the market stall every week.
(d) B1 sisters' (missing plural possessive apostrophe added) cao
(d) Answer: The three sisters' bikes were parked by the gate.

Question 10

B1 gardener's corrected to gardeners (greengrocer's apostrophe removed - plain plural, subject of showed) cao
B1 carrot's corrected to carrots (greengrocer's apostrophe removed - plain plural, object of plant) cao
B1 boys hands corrected to boys' hands (missing plural possessive apostrophe added - two boys own the hands) cao
Answer: On Saturday, Ravi's friend Amir came to help for the first time. The gardeners showed him how to plant carrots in neat rows, and by the end of the morning the two boys' hands were covered in soil.

Question 11

B1 explains that in A the apostrophe before the s shows the plot belongs to just one gardener
B1 explains that in B the apostrophe after the s shows the plot belongs to more than one gardener (oe)
Answer: In sentence A, the apostrophe comes before the s, showing the plot belongs to just one gardener. In sentence B, the apostrophe comes after the s, showing the plot belongs to more than one gardener.

Question 12

B1 one correct plain plural noun identified from the passage, e.g. trowels, buckets, packets, carrots, beetroots, lettuces, soldiers, sunflowers, courgettes, weeds, vegetables or baskets
B1 a second, different correct plain plural noun identified from the passage
B1 one correct possessive noun identified from the passage, e.g. Ravi's, strawberries', children's, Mr Okonkwo's, volunteers' or Grandad's
Answer: Any two of: trowels, buckets, packets, carrots, beetroots, lettuces, soldiers, sunflowers, courgettes, weeds, vegetables, baskets. Any one of: Ravi's, strawberries', children's, Mr Okonkwo's, volunteers', Grandad's.

Question 13

(a) B1 any correct sentence using a plain plural noun with no apostrophe (oe)
(a) Answer: The runners lined up at the start of the race.
(b) B1 any correct sentence using a correctly punctuated singular possessive noun (oe)
(b) Answer: The runner's medal shone in the sunlight.
(c) B1 any correct sentence using a correctly punctuated plural possessive noun ending in -s' (oe)
(c) Answer: The runners' times were written on the board.