Year 2 punctuation: commas, apostrophes and the four sentence types

Punctuation and types of sentence, explained

In Year 1 children learn to start a sentence with a capital letter and end it with a full stop, question mark or exclamation mark. In Year 2 the expectation is that they do this in most of their sentences, not just when they remember. The most common slip is a run of sentences with only a few full stops, or a comma where a full stop belongs, as in “We went to the park, it was fun.” Reading writing aloud and listening for where the voice naturally stops is the best way to fix this.

Children now learn the four sentence types. A statement tells you something and ends with a full stop: “The cat sat on the wall.” A question asks something and ends with a question mark: “Where is my coat?” A command tells someone to do something: “Put your coat on.” It usually ends with a full stop, or with an exclamation mark if it is said forcefully. An exclamation shows strong feeling, and in Year 2 it normally begins with “What” or “How”: “What a messy room this is!” or “How loud that was!” An exclamation mark alone does not make a sentence an exclamation, so a plain statement with an exclamation mark remains a statement, and children are encouraged to use the mark sparingly.

Commas in lists are new in Year 2. When we name several things in a row, we separate them with commas, with “and” before the last one: “We bought apples, bananas and grapes.” The comma tells the reader that each item is separate. Teachers also use lists to show that a comma is not the same as a full stop, because the list is still one sentence.

Apostrophes have two jobs in Year 2. The first is to show where letters have been left out in a shortened word, known as a contraction: “don’t” for “do not”, “can’t” for “cannot”, “I’m” for “I am”, “it’s” for “it is”. The apostrophe goes exactly where the missing letters were. The second job is to show that something belongs to one person or thing, as in “the girl’s coat” or “Mum’s car”. Possession by more than one owner, such as “the girls’ coats”, belongs to a later year. A plural noun on its own never needs an apostrophe, so “two apples” is correct and “two apple’s” is not.

Alongside these, children are introduced to some features of written Standard English, such as “we were” rather than “we was”, and “I did it” rather than “I done it”. This is not a judgement on how people speak at home; it simply means that writing follows more formal conventions. The curriculum also asks children to use grammatical terms when they talk about their writing. In Year 2 these include noun, noun phrase, adjective, adverb, verb, tense (past and present), suffix, compound, statement, question, exclamation, command, comma and apostrophe. Teachers use them in everyday conversation, so you will often hear a child say, “I need a question mark because it’s a question.”

Words your child will hear

Statement

A sentence that tells you something, usually ending with a full stop.

Question

A sentence that asks something, ending with a question mark.

Command

A sentence that tells someone to do something, such as “Sit down.”

Exclamation

A sentence that shows strong feeling, usually starting with What or How and ending with an exclamation mark.

Comma

A mark that separates items in a list.

Apostrophe

A mark that shows missing letters (don’t) or that something belongs to one person or thing (Dad’s hat).

Contraction

A shortened word made by leaving out letters and putting in an apostrophe, such as can’t.

What the National Curriculum says

In Year 2, pupils should be taught to:

• Develop their understanding of the concepts set out in English appendix 2 by learning how to use both familiar and new punctuation correctly, including full stops, capital letters, exclamation marks, question marks, commas for lists and apostrophes for contracted forms and the possessive (singular)
• Learn how to use sentences with different forms: statement, question, exclamation, command
• Learn how to use some features of written Standard English
• Use and understand the grammatical terminology in English appendix 2 in discussing their writing

Objectives from the National Curriculum in England, © Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Try it: correcting the punctuation

Common mistakes and how to help

How to help at home

• Sentence sort. As you read together, ask your child to spot a statement, a question, a command and an exclamation. Labels, signs and recipes are full of commands, such as “Wash your hands” or “Stir well”.
• Make a list. Write a shopping list in a sentence, such as “We need milk, bread, eggs and cheese.” Ask your child to put in the commas. Then read it aloud to hear the short pauses.
• Apostrophe detectives. Write pairs of words such as “did not” and “I am” and ask your child to shorten them. Then point to things around the house and ask your child to write who each one belongs to, such as “Dad’s hat” or “the dog’s bowl”.
• Fix the sentences. Write three short sentences with the punctuation left out and ask your child to correct them. Put in a mistake on purpose, such as a comma instead of a full stop, and see if they notice it.
• Read it like you mean it. When reading aloud, let your voice rise for questions, drop at full stops and get louder for exclamations. Children who hear the punctuation are more likely to use it.

Related topics

Everything in Year 2 English