How to Use Apostrophes for Possession

Khan Academy

This educational video provides a clear and friendly introduction to the grammatical concept of the possessive. The narrators, David and Paige, define possession simply as "owning something" and demonstrate how the apostrophe-s ('s) is used to condense complex phrases like "the carrot that belonged to the rabbit" into efficient forms like "the rabbit's carrot." They explore how this rule applies to both common nouns and proper nouns, using whimsical examples to keep the content engaging. The video then pivots to a crucial exception that often trips up students: possessive pronouns. The narrators clarify that while nouns rely on apostrophes to show ownership, possessive pronouns (like his, hers, ours, and its) never take an apostrophe. They illustrate this with side-by-side comparisons to reinforce the difference between a noun's possessive form and a pronoun's possessive form. Teachers can use this video to introduce or review the mechanics of possession in writing. It is particularly valuable for addressing the common error of adding apostrophes to possessive pronouns (e.g., writing "her's" instead of "hers"). The video's visual style—simple handwriting on a black background—focuses student attention directly on the spelling and punctuation changes being discussed.