Contractions — Answer Key
Part A: Multiple Choice
Circle the best answer for each question.
1. In this Grade 3 paragraph, how many contractions are in: 'I can't wait for summer. It's going to be fun. We'll go swimming every day.'?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4
The Grade 3 paragraph contains three contractions: 'can't' (cannot), 'It's' (It is), and 'We'll' (We will).
2. Which word in this Grade 3 sentence is a contraction, not a possessive: 'The dog wagged its tail. It's happy to see me.'?
A) its
B) tail
C) It's
D) happy
In Grade 3, 'It's' is a contraction for 'It is'; 'its' without an apostrophe shows possession of the tail.
3. What is the expanded form of 'they're' in this Grade 3 sentence: 'They're going to visit their grandparents soon'?
A) they are
B) they were
C) they will
D) they have
In Grade 3 reading, 'they're' always expands to 'they are' and is different from 'their' or 'there'.
4. Which word in this Grade 3 sentence is a possessive, not a contraction: 'Your shoes are wet. You're getting them dirty.'?
A) Your
B) shoes
C) You're
D) dirty
In Grade 3, 'Your' shows possession of the shoes; 'You're' is a contraction meaning 'You are'.
Part B: Fill in the Blank
Write the correct answer on each line.
1. In this Grade 3 paragraph, the expanded form of the contraction 'won't' is will not, which looks very different from its contraction.
In Grade 3, 'won't' expands to 'will not', which is unusual because the spelling changes entirely from its original form.
2. In a Grade 3 paragraph, the expanded form of 'we've' is we have, where the apostrophe replaces 'ha'.
Grade 3 contraction 'we've' always expands to 'we have', with the apostrophe replacing the dropped 'ha' letters.
3. In this Grade 3 sentence, the contraction 'it's' expands to it is, which is different from possessive 'its'.
In Grade 3 reading, 'it's' always expands to 'it is' or 'it has'; 'its' without an apostrophe shows possession.
4. In a Grade 3 paragraph, the contraction 'who's' expands to who is, not the possessive 'whose'.
In Grade 3, 'who's' expands to 'who is' or 'who has'; the possessive 'whose' shows ownership and has no apostrophe.
5. In this Grade 3 sentence, the contraction 'you're' expands to you are, not the possessive 'your'.
In Grade 3 writing, 'you're' expands to 'you are'; 'your' without an apostrophe shows possession of something.