How do children's and men's work?

Irregular plurals never end in s, so they take apostrophe-s like singulars: children's, men's, women's, mice's. Childrens' does not exist.

What about names ending in s?

Both James's and James' appear in print; schools usually teach 's for clarity. The sheets stay with the regular patterns where the rule is settled.

4th grade singular vs. plural possessives

4th grade singular vs. plural possessives worksheets

Fourth graders place apostrophes automatically in both regular forms and handle the irregular plurals (children's, men's, women's) that break the pattern.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core L.3.2.d.

Each print is a different sheet with its own answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of sentences you'll fix

Count the owners, choose the possessive, and write it on the line.

The (mices’ / mice’s) tracks ran along the pantry wall.
Fixed: The mice’s tracks ran along the pantry wall.
The (cats’ / cat’s) opinion of the new couch is now public: she clawed a hole in it.
The two (trees’ / tree’s) shadows stretch across the whole yard by five.

Every print pulls a new set of sentences at this level, so a make-up test or a second sibling gets a different mix.

What's on a 4th grade sheet

4th grade sheets draw from 40 sentences, 8 to a page. 3rd to 5th grade print from the same 40 sentences. The teaching notes below are written for this grade.

A few of the sentences, as the answer key corrects them:

One student’s poster fell during the night.
Both neighbors’ garden hoses point at the same rosebush.
All the cooks’ hats hang in a row by the freezer.

Fix it. Count the owners, choose the possessive, and write it on the line. 8 sentences to fix per page.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Give the irregulars their own drill: children's, men's, mice's. The rule is simple: no s at the end of the plural means it apostrophes like a singular. Three examples and it holds.

Watch for: Count the owners first, always: the apostrophe's position is just the answer to how many. One owner, 's; several, s'. Irregular plurals (children, men, mice) never end in s, so they take 's like singulars: children's, men's, mice's. There is no childrens' in English.

Common questions about 4th grade singular vs. plural possessives

How do children's and men's work?: Irregular plurals never end in s, so they take apostrophe-s like singulars: children's, men's, women's, mice's. Childrens' does not exist.
What about names ending in s?: Both James's and James' appear in print; schools usually teach 's for clarity. The sheets stay with the regular patterns where the rule is settled.

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Aligned to Common Core L.3.2.d. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

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