Lesson video

Hi, I'm Mr. Buckingham, and thank you so much for joining me for today's lesson about apostrophes and speech punctuation.

I think you're gonna find this a really useful revision lesson, and I'm really looking forward to teaching you today.

So let's make a start.

Today's lesson is called apostrophes and speech punctuation revision, and it comes to a unit called Review, including word class, sentence types, tense, commas, and colons.

By the end of today's lesson, we'll be able to practise apostrophes and speech punctuation test questions.

Now, you probably already know that apostrophes have two main uses, for contraction and for possession, so we're going to look at both of those.

And then we'll go on to look at three different ways of punctuating direct speech.

And along the way we'll try lots of test questions as well.

Let's get to work.

Here's our key vocabulary for today's lesson, my turn, your turn: Apostrophe for contraction, apostrophe for possession, inverted commas, direct speech, and formal tone.

Well done.

So an apostrophe for contraction is a punctuation mark used to contract two words together.

An apostrophe for possession is a punctuation mark used to show if a noun belongs to another noun.

Inverted commas are a pair of punctuation marks used to signal direct speech to the reader.

And direct speech is the term used for a character speaking out loud in a text.

We can create a formal tone in our writing by choosing serious, factual language.

Here's our lesson outline for today.

We're going to start off by looking at the different uses of apostrophes and then we'll move on to looking at speech punctuation.

So as you might know, in English, particularly when we're speaking or writing informally, we often use contracted forms to show two words connected together.

For example, we might say, "Who's ready?" And who's is the contracted form of the word who is.

We have who is contracted to make who's.

If we said, "We'll go,"' we'll is the contracted form of we will.

And for you'd like, you'd is the contracted form of you would.

The contracted form is made up of two words pushed together with an apostrophe, and that apostrophe usually takes the place of the letters that have been removed from the start of the second word.

For instance, if I have we and are, then I'm going to remove that A and replace it with an apostrophe to make we're.

I have we are making we're as the contracted form, and the apostrophe's gone where we've removed that letter A.

If I have I am, I'm going to remove that letter A to make the contracted form I'm, with the apostrophe where we remove the A.

And for she will, we're going to remove both the W and the I to make she'll, and the apostrophe goes where we remove those letters.

Now, some contractions drop a letter from inside the word.

For instance, should and not, they would make, well done, shouldn't, and then we need to drop that O to contract those together.

So should and not make shouldn't.

And look how the apostrophe has, again, gone where we've lost that letter from not.

Now, some contractions add in a letter.

For instance, will and not contract to make, well done, won't.

So we're going to lose all of these letters and we're adding in an O between the W and the N.

The apostrophe is going between the N and the T where we lost that O from the word not.

So all contractions that use not put the apostrophe between the N and the T in the contracted form.

For instance, did and not makes, well done, didn't, with the apostrophe there.

Could and not makes, well done, couldn't, with the apostrophe where we've removed the O from the word not.

So what's the contracted form of the highlighted words in these sentences? And see if you can get the apostrophe in the correct place for each one.

Pause the video and have a try.

Well done.

Great effort.

It is makes, well done, it's.

Was not, wasn't.

I would, I'd.

We've lost a lot of letters there, but we've still put the apostrophe where those missing letters would be.

And in will not, again, it's won't.

Well done.

Great job.

Let's try another one.

What pair of words are represented here by the contracted form that's in purple in each of these sentences? So here we've started with the contracted form, what are the two words that it's made from? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good effort.

So he'd is the contracted form of, well done, he had.

Couldn't comes from could not.

And we'd comes from we would.

Great job.

Well done.

Now, apostrophes for contraction are often a sign that we're being informal, along with using informal words in our writing.

When we're trying to write in a formal tone, we tend to use fewer contractions and we use really serious, factual language.

So I'm going to show you some sentences written in an informal way and in a formal way.

Let's see what the difference is.

In an informal tone, I could say, "You're not leaving 'til I say." Look how we've got you're, a contraction, and then 'til, which is a shortened form of until.

In a formal tone, I could say, "You will not be able to leave until I have given you my permission." No contractions this time and very serious language: "You will not be able to leave," and then the word my permission, which is a very formal word.

Let's look at another one.

"It's so good to see you." We've got that contraction it's.

In a formal tone we could say, "It is an absolute pleasure to see you." Look how removing that contraction and saying it is instantly makes things more formal.

In an informal tone, I could say, "You've knocked this out the park," So I've used you've, a contraction, but knock this out the park is also an informal way of speaking, isn't it? So in a formal way, I could say, "You have done a very impressive job." I've removed that contraction and I've said this in a more formal way.

And finally, I could say, "I've had it up to here with you." I've got that contraction, but again, this is an informal way of speaking.

In a formal tone, I might say, "I am sincerely disappointed in your behaviour," so we're using very serious language there.

So notice the difference.

We use contractions when we're being informal and we use informal language like 'til and knocked it out the park.

When we're being formal, adopting a formal tone, we use serious language and much fewer contractions.

So which sentence here is the most formal in tone? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Hopefully you spotted that it is D.

Let's look at why.

We can look at these words in the other sentences.

A and B both can contain a contraction: can't and wasn't.

And then in C, we've got some informal language.

Stuff and top-notch are both informal ways of talking.

Whereas in D, we've got very serious, formal language: "I was extremely impressed by our performance during the match." So notice the difference here in the tone of the sentences.

Really well done if you spotted that.

Now, we've seen that apostrophes can be used to show contraction, pushing two words together; they can also be used to show possession, something belonging to another noun.

When a singular noun, one noun, possesses another noun, we usually add apostrophe S to the first noun.

For instance, Aisha's cousin.

Aisha is one person, a singular noun, and the cousin belongs to her, so we've used apostrophe S after the first noun, Aisha, the one that does the possessing.

I could also say Alex's beliefs or Jun's favourite subject.

Here, each time we have a singular noun, one person owning something, and we've used apostrophe S.

Now, if that singular noun ends in S, then we just add an apostrophe after it.

For instance, the name Lucas ends in S already.

So Lucas' opinions, we would just put apostrophe after the S.

For Brussels, that's a place that ends in S, and we would put the apostrophe after the S in that case as well.

But we're still talking about a singular noun.

Brussels is one thing and Lucas is one thing, they just own something, and we put the apostrophe after the S because the words end with an S.

Now, plural nouns, more than one noun, usually end in S already, so usually we just add an apostrophe after that plural noun.

For instance, the boys' shoes; there is more than one boy.

Boys is the plural of boy, and it ends in S already, so we just add the apostrophe after the S.

In the same way, we'd say the trees' leaves.

Trees is the plural of tree, it already ends in S, so we add the apostrophe after the S.

And the bees' hive.

Bees is the plural of bee, it already ends in S, so we add the apostrophe after the S.

If the plural noun doesn't end in S, then we add apostrophe S just like we do with singular nouns.

For instance, the plural of child is not childs, it's children.

So here children does not end in S, so we have to add apostrophe S: The children's ideas.

Women is the plural of a woman.

So here women does not end in S, so we have to add apostrophe S to write the possession: The women's suggestions.

And finally, men is the plural of man.

So here, men, the plural, does not end in S, so we have to add apostrophe S to show that plural possession: The men's jobs.

So how would we show each idea using an apostrophe for possession? Pause the video and have a think of what phrase, using an apostrophe for possession, you could come up with for each of these ideas.

Have a go.

Well done.

Great effort.

So the hopes belonging to the adults are the adults' hopes.

Now, adults is a plural noun.

The hopes belong to a plural noun, but it already ends in S, so we've put the apostrophe after the S.

The tears belonging to the man.

Hmm, we've got one man, so it would be the man's tears.

This is a singular noun, and we just add apostrophe S.

This one says the beliefs belonging to the children.

Now, children is a plural noun, it's more than one child, but it doesn't end in S, so we have to add apostrophe S: The children's beliefs.

And for the last one, the favourite food belonging to Lucas.

Well, Lucas is a singular noun, but as we said, it ends in S, so we have to add the apostrophe after the S: Lucas' favourite food.

Really well done if you've got those apostrophes in the correct position.

Now, let's try another one.

I wonder if you can match each sentence on the left, which uses an apostrophe for possession, with its meaning on the right.

Remember, we have used apostrophes differently to show plural possession, possession by more than one thing, or singular possession, possession by one noun.

So look carefully at the words on the left to see what are they showing.

How many people are doing the possession in those sentences? Pause the video and see if you can match the sentences with their meanings.

Have a go.

Well done.

Good job.

Let's look at A.

It says, "The women's toilets were spotlessly clean." Now, women is the plural of woman, so we must be talking about more than one woman here.

And because women doesn't end in S, we've added apostrophe S to show the possession.

For B, we've said, "Insects' wings." I can see insects there as our noun doing the possession.

That ends in S because it's a plural noun, so this is more than one insect.

For C, we've said, "The woman's house." Now, woman is singular, isn't it? That means one woman.

So this is talking about one, and we've used apostrophe S after that N.

And indeed we've said, "The insect's body," with the apostrophe after the T, so here we must be talking about? Well done.

Only one insect.

Really good job if you've managed to make those connections.

Great understanding.

Now let's see if you can insert or put in an apostrophe for possession in the correct place in each sentence.

So pause the video and think carefully.

Are we showing plural or singular possession? And where should the apostrophe go? Have a go.

Well done.

Really good job.

Let's take a look.

So in A, we've written, "Childrens letters should be handed in to the office." We've already said that children is the plural of child.

It doesn't end in S, so we add apostrophe S.

So it would look like this.

The letters are belonging to the children.

In B, we've written, "Every persons opinion." So person is a singular noun, so we would write this, apostrophe S.

For C, we've got, "The police officer dealt with the mens concerns." Now, men is the plural of man, it does not end in S, so we add apostrophe S like this.

And finally for D, we've said, "All the teachers cars were stranded by the snow." Now, teachers is a plural, and it's a plural that already ends in S, so we put the apostrophe after the S on this occasion.

Really well done if you've managed to get those apostrophes in the correct position.

Great job.

So let's do our first task for this lesson.

I'd like you to look at these sentences and just decide whether each apostrophe is showing possession or contraction.

So next to each sentence you need to write: Is it showing me contraction or possession? Is it pushing two words together or is it showing that something belongs to another noun? Pause the video and have a careful think.

Well done.

Fantastic effort.

Let's take a look.

In A, we've got we'll.

That's the contracted form of we will, so this is showing contraction.

In B, we've got the geese wings.

We've got wings belonging to more than one goose, to geese, so this is showing us possession.

C has it's, that's the contracted form of, well done, it is.

So that's an apostrophe for contraction.

In D, we've got the cars' owner.

So that's more than one car, plural cars, belonging to one owner.

We've got the apostrophe after the S to show us it's more than one car, so this is possession.

In E, we've got Jun's dad's shed.

Hmm.

Now, both of those are apostrophe for possession.

We've got the dad belonging to Jun and the shed belonging to dad, so both of these are for possession.

In F, we've got Dad's so angry, that means Dad is so angry, that's the contracted form there.

So that's an apostrophe for contraction.

And in G, we've got the biscuits' crunch.

Hmm, we've got biscuits as a plural noun followed by the apostrophe.

That's showing us the crunch belongs to plural biscuits, more than one biscuit.

So this is an apostrophe for possession.

Really good job if you've managed to spot those.

Fantastic work.

So we've talked about apostrophes now and their two different uses.

Let's turn to looking at speech punctuation.

So when we write direct speech, we put the words the character said in inverted commas.

You might have heard them called speech marks, but we're going to use the word inverted commas in order to be really grammatically accurate.

So let's look at this example.

We've said, "'Stop being so mischievous!' snapped Alex." The words Alex said are in inverted commas: Stop being so mischievous.

And that direct speech, the words inside the inverted commas, can come before or after the reporting clause, where we say who's speaking, that's the bit that says snapped Alex, we're saying who's talking.

So let's look at the punctuation we've used here.

We've started with our inverted commas; we've used a capital letter to open the direct speech; then we have that piece of direct speech, the words the character said; then we have some closing punctuation, it could be an exclamation mark, a question mark or a comma, here we've got an exclamation mark; and then we've closed our inverted commas to show the end of the direct speech; then we have that reporting clause where we say who said it and how; and we finish with our full stop.

So notice how when the direct speech comes first, we can't put a full stop at the end of the direct speech because it's in the middle of a sentence, it has to be the exclamation mark, question mark or, comma.

The full stop comes at the end of the reporting clause when the sentence itself is finished.

Now, we could do this the other way round.

When the reporting clause comes first, it's followed by a comma, and we can see that here.

We've put: "Alex sighed," comma, "'Sorry, I'm not available.

'" So notice how here the reporting clause comes first to tell us who spoke and how, and then the direct speech has come second.

"Sorry, I'm not available," are the words Alex said.

So the punctuation here is slightly different.

Let's take a look.

We start off with a capital letter to start off that reporting clause.

We have the reporting clause to say who said it and how.

We finish the reporting clause always with that comma.

Then we open our inverted commas to show that direct speech has begun, and we always start that with a capital letter.

Then we have that piece of speech, the words the character said.

We finish with some closing punctuation, and this time we could use a full stop because it's the end of the sentence.

We can't use a comma now because we can't put a comma at the end of a sentence.

So we've got a choice of an exclamation mark, a question mark, or a full stop this time, and we've gone for a full stop here.

And then we close our inverted commas to show the end of the direct speech.

So we've got a slightly different punctuation when the reporting clause comes first like this.

Now, sometimes that reporting clause can interrupt the direct speech.

Here's an example: "This time frustration," sighed Jun in frustration, "let's work together." So we've got one piece of direct speech.

Jun said, "This time let's work together," and we've interrupted it with our reporting clause: sighed Jun in frustration.

And you might just spot that the punctuation here is slightly different, it's almost a combination of the two types we source so far.

So we start with our inverted commas to open that direct speech, and a capital letter always to start our direct speech.

Then we have our first little bit of speech, and then that speech is interrupted and we place the comma there to show it's being interrupted.

And then we close our direct speech with an inverted comma for the first time.

Then we have our reporting clause, and this will always end with a comma here.

Then we reopen our speech with an inverted comma.

This time we don't have a capital letter, unless it was a name, then we have our second bit of speech.

We finish with our closing punctuation, an exclamation mark, a question mark, or a full stop, and then we close our inverted commas for the final time.

So notice there are two commas we really need to have here: one at the end of the first piece of direct speech and one at the end of that reporting clause.

So we can now see three different ways of writing direct speech.

We can put the direct speech first, followed by the reporting clause: "Now let's get our bags," said Mr. Martinez.

Here we've got inverted commas around the direct speech.

And we finished the direct speech with a comma because this is in the middle of the sentence.

We could flip it around.

We could put the reporting clause first: Mr. Martinez said, "Now let's get our bags." And here we've got the comma after that reporting clause: Mr. Martinez said, comma.

And notice how now we've got a full stop at the end of diary speech because it's at the end of the sentence.

Now let's see it interrupted.

"Now," said Mr. Martinez, "let's get our bags." And notice those two comments here: one after now to show that that first piece of speech is ending, and then one at the end of the reporting clause, said Mr. Martinez, to show that we're about to begin the second part of direct speech.

And notice how I don't have a capital letter the let's because this is in the middle of a sentence.

And here, again, we've got a full stop at the end to show the end of the sentence.

We've got lots of punctuation to think about, so it's really important that we practise these rules really well now.

So which of these sentences are correctly punctuated? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good job.

In A, we are not correctly punctuated.

We are missing our comma here at the end of the reporting clause.

B is correctly punctuated because it has that comma after asked at the end of the reporting clause.

C is also correctly punctuated.

We've got a capital letter to start the direct speech, we've got some closing punctuation after mess, and we've got our full stop at the end.

D is not correct because we don't have our capital letter at the start of the direct speech there at the beginning of the sentence.

Really well done if you spotted those errors.

Now, where do inverted commas need to be inserted into these sentences? I've given you lots of the punctuation, you just need to decide where should the inverted commas go.

Pause the video and have a careful think for each one.

Well done.

Fantastic effort.

In A, hopefully you spotted they need to be here, around the words Sam said: Can I help you? And notice how that second inverted comma comes after that question mark.

In B, we need them after that comma and at the end of the direct speech.

So, Mr. Martinez whispered, comma, and then we have the direct speech.

Again, we've put the inverted comma after that closing exclamation mark.

In C, we need them after that exclamation mark and before the start of the direct speech.

And in D, it's gonna go after that comma after says and then at the end of the direct speech there as well.

Really well done if you manage to get those.

Now let's practise all of those rules.

I wonder if you can insert all the correct speech punctuation into these sentences.

Pause the video and think really carefully about what's missing and what needs to be added.

Have a go.

Well done.

Fantastic effort.

There's lots to remember.

In A, we've got the direct speech: "When are they arriving?" and then we've got our reporting clause: "mum whispered as she checked her watch." So we need to make it look like this.

We need a question mark here because mum was asking a question, and we've got inverted commas around those words that she said.

In B it says, "Laura asked Mr. Martinez Is there any time left for a game".

So here I can see the reporting clause has come first and that is is the start of the direct speech.

So I'm gonna put a comma after that reporting clause, then I open my inverted commas.

This is, again, a question, so I need that question mark, and then the inverted commas closing at the end.

C says, "Stop right now shouted Ms. O'Neill angrily." So the direct speech must be: Stop right now.

Now, because Ms. O'Neill is angry, we're going to use an exclamation mark to show that strong emotion, so that would look like this.

We've got inverted commas around the direct speech, with the exclamation mark in front of that second pair of inverted commas to show Ms. O'Neill's strong emotion.

Really great job if you managed to get all of those pieces of punctuation in the correct place.

Great effort.

So let's do our final task for this lesson.

I've got six pieces of direct speech here.

I would like you to add in all the necessary punctuation to each of these sentences to show direct speech.

Now, in some of them the reporting clause comes first and in some of them the reporting clause comes second.

So think carefully about those rules we discussed about how that affects the punctuation we need to use.

Pause the video and see if you can add in all of that punctuation that we need.

Have a go.

Fantastic work.

Well done.

Let's take a look.

In A, we've got the direct speech first, so we've got our inverted commas around that, and we've got our question mark to show that this is a question.

And don't forget that full stop at the end as well.

In B, we've got the reporting clause first, so we need that comma after it.

This is showing a strong emotion, so I've used an exclamation mark at the end of my direct speech.

In C, we've got the reporting clause first again, so don't forget that comma after the reporting clause.

This is a question, so I've used a question mark.

For D, we've got the direct speech first.

And again, it says, "Miss O'Neill exploded," so again, Miss O'Neill is showing a strong emotion, so we've used an exclamation mark here.

And in E, we've got the reporting clause first, so it's followed by that comma.

And this is, again, a question, so I've used a question mark.

And for F, I've got the direct speech first, and I followed it here by a comma because here we're not seeing a strong emotion.

So this would normally be, if it was a normal sentence, it would be a full stop.

Because it's in the middle of the sentence with direct speech, I've used a comma in that position.

So here we've got the inverted comma starting before the start of the direct speech, we've got a comma to end it, then the closing inverted commas, and then our reporting clause.

And, again, we need that full stop at the end as well.

Really well done if you managed to get all that punctuation in the right place.

Great job.

So let's review our learning in this lesson.

We've said that apostrophes can be used to show contracted forms and we often do this in informal writing.

We said that when we use a formal tone, we tend to avoid contracted forms and we use serious language.

We've said that apostrophes are also used for possession, and whenever the noun doing the possessing ends in S, we place the apostrophe after the S.

And there are three ways of showing direct speech with inverted commas, and we need to know those specific punctuation rules for each of those three ways.

You've done a fantastic job in this lesson dealing with lots and lots of punctuation marks.

Well done for getting all the way through it.

I hope you found it useful.

And I'd love to see you again in a future lesson.

Goodbye.