Punctuation and Grammar: Year 3 Study Guide
Punctuation marks are like traffic signals for readers. They show where to stop, pause or listen to someone speaking.
A complete sentence has a subject (who or what it is about) and a verb (what they do), and it makes sense on its own. It starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark. 'The kangaroo hopped' is a sentence; 'Hopped over the fence' is not, because we do not know who hopped.
Year 3 adds more punctuation: commas in lists, apostrophes for contractions and possession, and speech marks for direct speech.
Punctuation marks
| Mark | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| . | End of a statement | Koalas sleep a lot. |
| ? | End of a question | Where do they live? |
| ! | Strong feeling | What a huge gum tree! |
| , | Separate items in a list | We saw emus, wombats and dingoes. |
| ' (contraction) | Shows missing letters | don't = do not |
| ' (possession) | Shows belonging | the dog's bowl |
| " " | Show spoken words | "Look!" said Ben. |
Apostrophes
For a contraction the apostrophe sits where letters are missing (can't, it's, we'll). For possession add 's to a singular owner (the girl's hat) and just an apostrophe to a regular plural owner (the girls' hats). A very common error is the apostrophe in plurals: write 'two dogs', not 'two dog's'. Note that its (belonging) has no apostrophe, while it's means 'it is'.
Speech marks
Put speech marks around the exact words someone says, and begin a new line when a new person speaks. The punctuation at the end of the spoken words goes inside the marks: "I'm hungry," said Mum. If the spoken words come after, use a comma after said: Mum said, "Let's eat."
Only the words the person says.
Around those words.
Comma, question mark or exclamation mark before the closing marks.
said, asked, whispered, shouted.
Worked examples and common mistakes
Fix: what time is it asked tom becomes "What time is it?" asked Tom. Frequent mistakes are comma splices (joining sentences with just a comma), missing capital letters for names of people and places (Tom, Sydney), and using commas where full stops should go. Read your work one sentence at a time, from the end to the start, to spot errors.
Check your understanding: model answers
1. The children's toys were in the box. (children is already plural, so the apostrophe goes before the s.) 2. We packed apples, bananas and grapes. 3. "I can see a kangaroo," whispered Sam.
✨ Key Takeaways
- A sentence needs a subject and a verb and makes sense on its own.
- Commas separate items in a list.
- Apostrophes show missing letters or belonging.
- Speech marks surround the exact words spoken.
💬 Questions for Discussion & Reflection
- Correct: 'the childrens toys were in the box'.
- Write a sentence with a list of three items using commas.
- Write one line of dialogue with speech marks and a speech verb.
Print lined paper for sentence practice →