Teaching punctuation

Purpose
Punctuation is a set of non-linguistic graphic signs that evolved with conventions of writing and printing. The modern English punctuation system can be divided into word punctuation and sentence punctuation. On one level, punctuation provides the signals of intonation, tone etc conveyed in oral communication. In a more general sense, it assists in making written communication effective and non-ambiguous. This Teaching Tip looks at one piece of word punctuation in detail.

Teaching Points

The apostrophe has two distinct uses: to indicate possession, and to indicate a contraction.

Possession

• For singular nouns, an apostrophe plus an 's' are added to indicate possession.
  • The cat's mouse
  • The girl's hat
• This treatment commonly includes nouns that end in an 's', reflecting the pronunciation of these words.
  • The bus's route
  • The gas's flame
• For plural nouns that end in 's's only the apostrophe is added
  • The boys' game
  • The cats' mice
• For all other plural nouns, the apostrophe plus's are added.
  • The children's toys
  • The people's voice

Contraction
The apostrophe can also be used to indicate that a letter or letters are missing when two words have been contracted to one.

• Wouldn't = would not
• Who's = who is/ who has (Note the difference between "who's and whose" in Who's looking for their hat? Whose hat is this?)
• it’s = it is / it has (Note the difference between ‘it’s’ and ‘its’ in The dog is hungry. It’s looking at its bowl. ‘It’s’ does not indicate a possessive ‘it’.)

More information
PEN 113: Spinks, S. Punctuation. e:lit - the Primary English Teaching Association, Newtown