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Grade 4 · English Language Arts · Unit 7 of 10

Punctuation Power

Apostrophes, commas and quotes

What your child practises

Writing possessives (the dog's bone, the girls' bikes, the children's toys), placing commas in dates, places and lists, and punctuating dialogue with quotation marks.

BC Curriculum learning standard: Conventions: apostrophes (possessives and contractions), commas in dates, places and lists, and quotation marks for dialogue

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What does the apostrophe in “Sam's hat” show?

    • Sam is asking a question.
    • There is more than one hat.
    • There is more than one Sam.
    • The hat belongs to Sam.
    Show answer

    The hat belongs to Sam.

    Hint: An apostrophe and s after a name shows ownership.

  2. Question 2

    Which sentence uses quotation marks correctly?

    • Let's go to the park, “said Jay.”
    • “Let's go to the park,” said Jay.
    • “Let's go to the park, said Jay.”
    • “Let's go” to the park, said Jay.
    Show answer

    “Let's go to the park,” said Jay.

    Hint: Put quotation marks around only the words Jay says. The comma goes inside the closing quotation mark.

  3. Question 3

    Which correctly shows the sleeping bags that belong to the cousins (more than one)?

    • the cousin's sleeping bags
    • the cousins' sleeping bags
    • the cousins sleeping bags
    Show answer

    the cousins' sleeping bags

    Hint: When a plural owner already ends in s, just add an apostrophe after the s: the cousins' sleeping bags.

  4. Question 4

    Which is written correctly?

    • Thursday, April 3
    • Thursday, April, 3
    • Thursday April, 3
    • Thursday April 3
    Show answer

    Thursday, April 3

    Hint: Put a comma after the day of the week, but not between the month and the date: Thursday, April 3.

  5. Question 5

    Which sentence uses commas correctly?

    • Zoe's, favourite colours are red green and purple.
    • Zoe's favourite colours, are red green, and purple.
    • Zoe's favourite colours are red green and purple.
    • Zoe's favourite colours are red, green and purple.
    Show answer

    Zoe's favourite colours are red, green and purple.

    Hint: Use commas to separate items in a list: red, green and purple.

  6. Question 6

    Which sentence is punctuated correctly?

    • Ana said, I love this song.
    • Ana said “I love this song.”
    • Ana said, “I love this song.”
    • “Ana said, I love this song.”
    Show answer

    Ana said, “I love this song.”

    Hint: Put a comma after “said”, then put quotation marks around Ana's exact words.

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