2.1.6

Using Apostrophes with Irregular Plurals

Test yourself

Recap: Irregular Plurals

Irregular plurals do not end in 's' or 'es' like regular plurals. Let's look at a few examples of irregular plurals, just incase you have forgotten what they look like...

Using Apostrophes with Irregular Plural Nouns

We sometimes need to show possession in a sentence, which is when something belongs to someone or something. We do this using an apostrophe ('). Let's walk through 2 examples of how you add an apostrophe to irregular plural nouns...

Illustrative background for 1) Make a sentence using possessionIllustrative background for 1) Make a sentence using possession ?? "content

1) Make a sentence using possession

  • The sheeps pen was very crowded.
    • Sheep is an irregular plural noun. It is the same as the singular noun 'sheep'.
    • There is an 's' at the end of sheep because the pen belongs to the sheep. This means there is possession in this sentence.
Illustrative background for 2) Add an apostrophe <b>before</b> the sIllustrative background for 2) Add an apostrophe <b>before</b> the s ?? "content

2) Add an apostrophe before the s

  • The sheep's pen was very crowded.
    • With regular plural nouns that end in 's', the apostrophe comes after the 's'.
    • But here, we have added the apostrophe before the 's' because sheep is an irregular plural.
Illustrative background for 1) Make a sentence using possessionIllustrative background for 1) Make a sentence using possession ?? "content

1) Make a sentence using possession

  • The childrens coats were wet.
    • Children is an irregular plural noun. The singular noun is 'child'.
    • There is an 's' at the end of children because the coats belong to the children. This means there is possession in this sentence.
Illustrative background for 2) Add an apostrophe <b>before</b> the sIllustrative background for 2) Add an apostrophe <b>before</b> the s ?? "content

2) Add an apostrophe before the s

  • The children's coats were wet.
    • With regular plural nouns that end in 's', the apostrophe comes after the 's'.
    • But here, we have added the apostrophe before the 's' because children is an irregular plural.

Jump to other topics

1Spelling

1.1Spelling

1.1.1Hard 'U' & 'I' Sounds

1.1.2Words Ending in '-sure', & '-mure'

1.1.3Words Ending in '-sion'

1.1.4'Ei', 'Eigh' & 'Ey' Spellings

1.1.5Spelling Words with 'Ch'

1.1.6Spelling Words with 'Sc'

1.1.7Silent Letters

1.1.8i Before e Rule

1.1.9Hard & Soft 'c' Sounds

1.1.10End of Topic Test - Spelling

1.2Prefixes

1.2.1'Anti-' & 'Auto-'

1.2.2Not & 'Inter-'

1.2.3'Mis-', 'Dis-' & 'Re-'

1.2.4'Sub-' & 'Super-'

1.3Suffixes

1.3.1Vowel Suffixes

1.3.2Short Vowel Suffixes

1.3.3Suffixes: '-ous'

1.3.4Rules for Suffixes: '-ous'

1.3.5Rules for Suffixes: '-ous' 2

1.3.6Suffixes: '-ly'

1.3.7Suffixes: '-ation'

1.3.8Suffixes: '-ation' 2

1.3.9Spelling: '-tion' Endings

1.3.10Spelling: '-sion' Endings

1.3.11Spelling: '-ssion' Endings

1.3.12Spelling: '-cian' Endings

1.3.13End of Topic Test - Prefixes & Suffixes

1.4Making Words Plural

1.4.1Plurals

1.5Homophones

1.5.1Accept & Except

1.5.2Affect & Effect

1.5.3Ball & Bawl

1.5.4Berry & Bury

1.5.5Brake & Break

1.5.6Fair & Fare

1.5.7Grate & Great

1.5.8Groan & Grown

1.5.9Hear & Here

1.5.10Heal, Heel & He'll

1.5.11Knot & Not

1.5.12Mail & Male

1.5.13Main & Mane

1.5.14Meat & Meet

1.5.15Medal & Meddle

1.5.16Missed & Mist

1.5.17Peace & Piece

1.5.18Plain & Plane

1.5.19Rain & Reign & Rein

1.5.20Scene & Seen

1.5.21Weather & Whether

1.5.22Whose & Who's

1.5.23End of Topic Test - Homophones

1.6Word Meanings

1.6.1Homonyms

2Punctuation

2.1Punctuation

2.1.1Full Stops

2.1.2Capital Letters

2.1.3Commas

2.1.4Commas 2

2.1.5Using Apostrophes with Regular Plurals

2.1.6Using Apostrophes with Irregular Plurals

2.1.7Question Marks & Exclamation Marks

2.1.8Brackets

2.1.9Dashes

2.1.10Colon

2.1.11Semi-Colon

2.1.12Direct Speech

2.1.13Indirect Speech

2.1.14Hyphens

2.1.15Ellipses

2.1.16End of Topic Test - Punctuation

2.1.17End of Topic Test - Punctuation 2

2.2Writing Structure

2.2.1Paragraphs

2.2.2Headings & Subheadings

2.2.3Columns

2.2.4Bullets

2.2.5Tables

3Grammar

3.1Word Classes

3.1.1Nouns

3.1.2Pronouns

3.1.3Verbs

3.1.4Adjectives & Adverbs

3.1.5Qualifiers & Quantifiers

3.1.6Determiners

3.1.7Prepositions

3.1.8Synonyms & Antonyms

3.1.9End of Topic Test - Word Classes

3.2Conjunctions

3.2.1Coordinating Conjunctions

3.2.2Subordinating Conjunctions

3.3Writing Coherently

3.3.1Building Cohesion in Writing

3.3.2Avoiding Ambiguity in Writing

3.4Verbs

3.4.1Subject-verb Agreement

3.5Modal Verbs

3.5.1Modal Verbs

3.5.2Can & Could

3.5.3May & Might

3.5.4Should & Shall

3.5.5Will & Would

3.5.6Must & Have To

3.6Phrasal Verbs

3.6.1Phrasal Verbs

3.7Subjunctive Verbs

3.7.1Subjunctive Verbs

3.7.2End of Topic Test - Verbs

3.8Sentences

3.8.1Subject of a Sentence

3.8.2Object of a Sentence

3.8.3Main & Subordinate Clauses

3.8.4Simple Sentences & Compound Sentences

3.8.5Complex Sentences

3.8.6Relative Clauses

3.8.7Relative Clauses Without Relative Pronouns

3.8.8Participle Clauses

3.8.9Run-on Sentences

3.8.10Sentence Functions

3.8.11End of Topic Test - Sentences

3.9Tenses

3.9.1Present Tense

3.9.2Past Tense

3.9.3Past Tense Using Have

3.9.4Future Tense

3.9.5Present vs Past vs Future

3.9.6Continuity of Tenses

3.9.7End of Topic Test - Tenses

3.10Adverbials

3.10.1Adverbial

3.10.2Saying Where & When

3.10.3Saying How Often

3.10.4Saying How & Why

3.10.5Using Commas for Fronted Adverbials

3.11Language Techniques

3.11.1Figurative & Emotive Language

3.11.2Active & Passive Voice

3.11.3Idiomatic Expressions

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Using Apostrophes with Regular Plurals

Question Marks & Exclamation Marks