GCSE English LanguageGrammar and punctuation
30 questions on apostrophes and commas. Pick your answer, then tap to see if you were right and why. Every question comes from the Show Working English Language bank.
Apostrophes do two jobs: they show that something belongs to someone, and they show where letters are missing. Commas have rules of their own: in lists, after a fronted adverbial, around extra information, and after a subordinate clause that comes first.
01 / Quiz yourselfTry it, then tap to check
Choose your answer before you open it. Then read why, so it sticks.
01 / Apostrophes and commas
Answer: C It shows that a letter is missing
“Don’t” is short for “do not”. The apostrophe sits where the letter o has been left out. This is called an apostrophe of omission.
02 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
____ been raining all day.
Answer: B It’s
“It’s” is short for “it is” or “it has”. Here it means “it has been raining”, so it needs the apostrophe.
03 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
The cat licked ____ paw.
Answer: A its
“Its” with no apostrophe means “belonging to it”, like “his” or “her”. “It’s” always means “it is” or “it has”, and “the cat licked it is paw” makes no sense.
04 / Apostrophes and commas
Answer: A It’s a shame the team lost its match.
The first word means “it is a shame”, so it needs “It’s”. The match belongs to the team, so it is “its match”, with no apostrophe.
05 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
____ coming to the party tonight?
Answer: C Who’s
“Who’s” is short for “who is” or “who has”. The question means “Who is coming to the party tonight?”, so it needs the apostrophe.
06 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
____ coat is this?
Answer: D Whose
“Whose” asks who something belongs to. “Who’s coat is this?” would mean “who is coat”, which makes no sense.
07 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
____ going to love this film.
Answer: B You’re
“You’re” is short for “you are”: “You are going to love this film.” “Your” means belonging to you, as in “your film”.
08 / Apostrophes and commas
Answer: D the boy’s jacket
For one owner, add an apostrophe and s to the noun: boy becomes “boy’s”. “The boys’ jacket” would mean a jacket shared by several boys.
09 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
the girls changing room
Answer: C After the s of girls
For a plural noun that already ends in s, the apostrophe goes after the s: “the girls’ changing room”. Before the s (“girl’s”) would mean just one girl.
10 / Apostrophes and commas
Answer: B the children’s clothes
“Children” is already plural and does not end in s. Add an apostrophe and s, as for one owner: “children’s”. The same goes for men’s, women’s and people’s.
11 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
The ____ football team won the cup.
Answer: C men’s
“Men” is an irregular plural with no s, so the possessive is “men’s”. “Man’s” would mean a team belonging to one man.
12 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
Fresh apple’s for sale
Answer: A Apples is a plain plural and needs no apostrophe
An apostrophe never makes a word plural. “Apples” just means more than one apple, and nothing belongs to them, so there is no apostrophe at all.
13 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
Theyre going to Toms house after school.
Answer: A Toms
The house belongs to Tom, so it is “Tom’s house”. “Theyre” also needs an apostrophe (“They’re”), but that one shows missing letters, not possession.
14 / Apostrophes and commas
Answer: D could have
“Could’ve” and “should’ve” are short for “could have” and “should have”. They sound like “could of”, but “of” is always wrong here.
15 / Apostrophes and commas
Answer: A The letter a
“They’re” is short for “they are”. The apostrophe takes the place of the a in “are”.
16 / Apostrophes and commas
Answer: B will not
“Won’t” is an unusual contraction: it is short for “will not”. “Would not” shortens to “wouldn’t”.
17 / Apostrophes and commas
Answer: A the teachers’ cars
“Teachers” is a plural ending in s, so the apostrophe goes after the s: “teachers’”. “Teacher’s” would mean the cars of one teacher.
18 / Apostrophes and commas
Answer: D The friends of one sister
Where the apostrophe sits tells you how many owners there are. “Sister’s” (before the s) is one sister; “sisters’” (after the s) is more than one.
19 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
Sadly, the shop has closed.
Answer: D It follows a fronted adverbial
“Sadly” comes before the main clause and tells us how the writer feels about it. A word or phrase like this at the front of a sentence is a fronted adverbial, and a comma follows it.
20 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
Mum shouted “Dinner is ready!”
Answer: C A comma after shouted
When the words that introduce speech come first, a comma goes before the opening speech marks: Mum shouted, “Dinner is ready!”
21 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
When the bell rang the pupils rushed out.
Answer: D After rang
“When the bell rang” is a subordinate clause at the start of the sentence. A comma marks where it ends and the main clause, “the pupils rushed out”, begins.
22 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
It was a cold dark night.
Answer: A After cold
Two adjectives that each describe the noun can be separated by a comma: “a cold, dark night”. The comma goes between them, after “cold”.
23 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
Thank you Mrs Jones for all your help.
Answer: C After you and after Jones
Mrs Jones is being spoken to, so her name is marked off with commas on both sides: “Thank you, Mrs Jones, for all your help.”
24 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
Bring a coat a hat a drink and a packed lunch.
Answer: B Two
There are four items. Commas go after “a coat” and “a hat”, and “and” joins the last two items, so two commas are needed.
25 / Apostrophes and commas
Answer: D The missing letters of “of the”
“O’clock” is short for “of the clock”. The apostrophe shows where letters have been left out, like the one in “don’t”.
26 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
____ go to the beach this weekend.
Answer: C Let’s
“Let’s” is short for “let us”: “Let us go to the beach.” “Lets” with no apostrophe means “allows”, as in “She lets me borrow her bike.”
27 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
The dog’s barked all night.
Answer: C Dogs is a plain plural, so it needs no apostrophe
Nothing belongs to the dogs here; there are simply more than one. A plain plural never takes an apostrophe: “The dogs barked all night.”
28 / Apostrophes and commas
Answer: C isn’t
A contraction is two words squashed into one, with an apostrophe where letters are missing. “Isn’t” is short for “is not”.
29 / Apostrophes and commasOur own example
the bike belonging to my brother
Answer: A my brother’s bike
There is one brother, so add an apostrophe and s to “brother”: “my brother’s bike”. “Brothers’” would mean more than one brother.
30 / Apostrophes and commas
Answer: D They make the writing sound chatty
Contractions are correct English, but they sound informal. In a formal letter or report, “cannot” and “will not” usually suit the serious tone better.
02 / Where marks slipOne thing to watch
Mixing up “its” and “it’s”. “It’s” always means “it is” or “it has”; “its” means belonging to it.
03 / In the appComing to Show Working
In the app, Apostrophes and commas gives you ten questions at a time, picked from all 33, with the reason after every answer. English Language is built, but it isn’t on phones yet: it will arrive in an update.
Coming soon to the App StoreOur own questions, written for every board. Lines from books are from authors who died long enough ago that their words are free to quote. Show Working is independent and not affiliated with any exam board.
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