Detailed Explanation of Plural and Possessive Nouns 📚✍️

When we talk about plural and possessive nouns, it’s important to know what each one means and how to use them correctly. This is a key part of Year 6 English and helps us write clearly and accurately.

What Are Plural Nouns? 🐱📖🍎

A plural noun shows that there is more than one person, animal, thing, or place. For most nouns, we make them plural by adding -s at the end.

Examples:
– one cat → two cats
– one book → many books
– one apple → several apples

Rules for Making Plural Nouns 📝

  1. Add -s to most nouns: car → cars, dog → dogs
  2. Add -es if the noun ends in s, x, z, ch or sh: bus → buses, box → boxes, watch → watches
  3. Change -y to -ies if the noun ends with a consonant + y: baby → babies, berry → berries
  4. Some nouns have irregular plurals which don’t follow normal rules:
       – man → men
       – woman → women
       – child → children
       – mouse → mice
       – foot → feet

Common Plural Errors to Avoid 🚫

  • Adding just -s to irregular nouns (incorrect: childs, correct: children)
  • Forgetting to change -y to -ies (incorrect: citys, correct: cities)
  • Adding -s to words that already end in -s without adding -es (incorrect: buss, correct: buses)

What Are Possessive Nouns? 🏠📚

A possessive noun shows that something belongs to someone or something. For example, “the girl’s book” means the book belongs to the girl.

Rules for Possessive Nouns 👉

  1. To show possession for most singular nouns, add ’s:
       – the dog → the dog’s leash
       – my teacher → my teacher’s desk
  2. To show possession for plural nouns ending in -s, add only an apostrophe ’ after the s:
       – the cats → the cats’ toys
       – the boys → the boys’ football
  3. For plural nouns not ending in -s, add ’s:
       – the children → the children’s playground
       – the men → the men’s jackets

Common Possessive Errors to Avoid ❌

  • Mixing plural and possessive forms:
       – Incorrect: the dogs toy (missing apostrophe)
       – Correct: the dog’s toy (singular possessive)
       – Incorrect: the cats toy (should be plural or possessive)
       – Correct: the cats’ toy (plural possessive if it belongs to many cats)
  • Confusing it’s and its:
       – It’s means “it is” (contraction)
       – Its shows possession (like “belongs to it”)

How to Identify and Correct Errors 🔍✏️

  1. Check if the noun is plural or possessive: Is it more than one? Does it show belonging?
  2. For plurals, follow the plural rules carefully (adding -s, -es, or changing -y to -ies).
  3. For possessives, add apostrophes in the right place depending on singular or plural.
  4. Read the sentence to see if it makes sense. For example, if something belongs to a girl, the noun should have an apostrophe (girl’s), not just be plural (girls).

Summary ✔️

  • Plural nouns mean more than one. Usually add -s or -es.
  • Possessive nouns show ownership. Add ’s to singular nouns and ’ to plural nouns ending in s.
  • Watch out for irregular plurals and words like it’s and its.
  • Always re-read your work to check for these common errors.

By practising these rules and spotting mistakes, you’ll get better at correctly using plural and possessive nouns in your writing!

20 Examination-style Questions with Answers on Plural and Possessive Nouns 📝🎓

Below are 20 exam-style questions designed to help Year 6 students identify and correct errors with plural and possessive nouns. Each question comes with an answer and explanation, suitable for key stage 2 learning as per the UK National Curriculum.

Question 1

Identify the error: The cat’s are playing in the garden.
Answer: The word “cat’s” is incorrect. It should be “cats” because it is plural, not possessive.
Correct sentence: The cats are playing in the garden.

Question 2

Identify the error: The boys’s football match was exciting.
Answer: “boys’s” is wrong. The correct possessive of the plural noun “boys” is “boys’.”
Correct sentence: The boys’ football match was exciting.

Question 3

Rewrite the sentence correctly: My sisters book is on the table.
Answer: My sister’s book is on the table.
Explanation: It is a possessive singular noun, so add apostrophe + s.

Question 4

Identify the plural noun: There are two mouses in the room.
Answer: The plural form “mouses” is wrong. The correct plural is “mice.”
Correct sentence: There are two mice in the room.

Question 5

Find and correct the error: The childrens toys were everywhere.
Answer: “childrens” is wrong. It should be “children’s” with an apostrophe before the s because children is already plural.
Correct sentence: The children’s toys were everywhere.

Question 6

Add the correct possessive apostrophe: The dogs collar is red.
Answer: The dog’s collar is red.
Explanation: One dog owns the collar, so singular possessive.

Question 7

Identify the error: The girls dresses are new.
Answer: “girls” should be possessive plural with an apostrophe to show ownership: “girls’.”
Correct sentence: The girls’ dresses are new.

Question 8

Rewrite with correct plural noun: I saw three deers in the forest.
Answer: I saw three deer in the forest.
Explanation: “Deer” is an irregular plural and stays the same.

Question 9

Find the error: The man’s are waiting outside.
Answer: “man’s” is singular possessive but the sentence needs plural “men.”
Correct sentence: The men are waiting outside.

Question 10

Convert to possessive: The toy of the children is broken.
Answer: The children’s toy is broken.

Question 11

Correct this sentence: The teachers room is next to the library.
Answer: The teacher’s room is next to the library.
Explanation: Singular possessive for one teacher.

Question 12

Correct this sentence: The girls’s bicycles were parked outside.
Answer: The girls’ bicycles were parked outside.
Explanation: Plural possessive, apostrophe after s.

Question 13

Choose the correct sentence:
a) The cats whiskers are long.
b) The cat’s whiskers are long.
Answer: b) The cat’s whiskers are long.

Question 14

Identify and fix the plural noun error: We fed the sheeps on the farm.
Answer: “sheeps” is wrong. Correct plural is “sheep.”
Correct sentence: We fed the sheep on the farm.

Question 15

Find the mistake and correct: The childrens’ playground is new.
Answer: The apostrophe is in the wrong place. Correct is “children’s.”
Correct sentence: The children’s playground is new.

Question 16

Rewrite correctly: The dogs are wagging its tails.
Answer: The dogs are wagging their tails.

Question 17

Correct the possessive noun: The James car is blue.
Answer: James’s car is blue.
Explanation: For singular nouns ending in s, add ’s.

Question 18

Correct this sentence: The wifes cooking is delicious.
Answer: The wife’s cooking is delicious.

Question 19

Correct this plural noun: There are many leafs on the ground.
Answer: There are many leaves on the ground.

Question 20

Add possessive apostrophe: These are the boys hat.
Answer: These are the boys’ hats.

These questions help Year 6 students practise identifying mistakes in plural and possessive nouns and learn the correct way to use apostrophes and plural forms according to key stage 2 English curriculum expectations.