Prepare to master the secrets of Possession with Agent Nanobanana.
Agent Nanobanana found these items in the classroom...
MISSION: Pull an item from the bag!
When you tell me who owns it, you are using Possession.
"It's Maya's water bottle!"
"It's Leo's pencil!"
Ms. James says: "If you use an apostrophe, something MUST follow it."
Correct: The Berries' Celebration. (A noun follows!)
Wrong: The Berries' celebrate it. (No! 'Celebrate' is a verb.)
Back in the 1800s, it's used to follow the rules. But English changed its mind for Aesthetics!
English erased the rule to match "his" and "hers." Now, every time you write it's, it whispers:
"It iiiiiiiissssss..."
If you can't replace it with "it is", then it's BYE BYE APOSTROPHE!
Ms. James sees this error on social media EVERY DAY.
The babies go to school.
"People think an apostrophe makes it plural. It DOES NOT. It shows ownership!"
The baby's bottle.
(One baby owns it.)
If a last name ends in 'S', do not change the spelling!
Correct: Jones' dog.
Correct: Jones's dog.
WRONG: Jone's dog. (You misspelled the name!)
"You do not misspell the name in order to show possession. You just add to it!"
Ms. James's secret trick for Who's vs Whose.
Test: Replace with "She is".
"Who's winning?" = "She's winning!" (TRUE)
Test: Replace with "His / Her".
"Whose name?" = "Her name?" (TRUE)
To say a possessive hook out loud, you need to be generous with the Z.
"Make sure you sustain the Z with a lot of breath!"
James's = Jame-ziz
Charles's = Char-le-ziz
Apply the Bandage to fix the transcript errors!
REPAIRS COMPLETE!
Test your ownership code!
Ms. James says: "The plural of moose isn't meese—it's still moose."
Challenge: Draw a Moose's Birthday Party!
(Use the hook because the moose OWNS the party!)