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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
The chair could not stand upright, it was missing one of it's legs.
"It's" is a contraction meaning "it is." "Its" is the possessive form of the pronoun "it." "Its" is correct in the underlined portion of the sentence above.
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Toms shoes were utterly soaked by the rain.
When indicating possession in sentences where the subject of the sentence is a third person, singular noun, you must follow that noun with an apostrophe and then an "s." The best construction of the underlined portion above is, "Tom's shoes."
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices repeats the underlined portion as it is written.
Monarch's in the Middle Ages had virtually unlimited power over their subjects.
The subject of the sentence, "Monarchs," is written in the underlined portion as a possessive noun. Problematically, the word is not possessing anything in the sentence, and is instead being used as a plural subject. The proper correction is to make the word a simple plural, making "Monarchs in the Middle Ages" the correct answer choice.
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices repeats the underlined portion as it is written.
The carefully prepared plan eventually came to nothing after it's leaders were discovered.
The underlined portion of the sentence has a simple, but common, grammatical error. The form "it's" can only be used for the contraction of "it is," and not for the possesive of "it"; therefore, the correct answer is "its leaders."
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Many people questioned the mans motives, as he never explained his actions in public.
The use of "mans" in the sentence is actually the plural form without the proper use of the apostrophe to show a plural. The correct form is actually "man's," making "the man's motives," the best choice among the answers.
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Under the terms of the contract, the company had to pay the fired employee six months salary.
The construction of "six months salary" is incorrect, as it refers to the salary of six months, and therefore needs a possesive form. The only answer that contains the correct (plural) possessive form is "six months' salary."
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Certain people have quite a bit of difficulty in distinguishing color's from each other.
The use of "color's" indicates a possesive, which is not the correct usage in the construction of the sentence. The phrase each other means that the plural form should be used; therefore, "in distinguishing colors from each other," is the correct answer choice.
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Athlete's popularity in high school is a profound feature of the American educational system.
The form "Athlete's" is incorrect in the sentence because the construction, with a lack of articles preceeding it, indicates a plural form. "Athlete's" is the singular possesive form, but the sentence requires the plural possessive "Athletes'" and the singular "popularity."
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English.
The most horrifying element of the procedure has proved to be it's lengthy recovery time.
The use of "it's" in the underlined sentence is incorrect. "It's" represents only "it is," while the use in the sentence is the possessive, which can only be "its;" therefore, the correct answer is "its lengthy recovery time."
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
The unrealistic assumptions caused the teams fans to expect more than the team could actually achieve.
The only issue with the sentence as it is written is that the word "teams" should be a possesive, when it is written as a simple plural. The word needs to be changed to "team's," making "caused the team's fans" the correct answer choice.
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Most of the students were confused by the schools new regulations about appropriate clothing.
The regulations beiing discussed in the sentence belong to the school, and the sentence should reflect this by making "schools" into the possessive form. Nothing else in the sentence should be changed, making "by the school's new regulations" the correct answer choice.
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
The girl was thoroughly embarrassed by her parents actions and comments in front of her friends.
The word "parents" in the sentence is used as a possesive, as the "actions and comments" belong to the parents. The word is written, however, as a simple plural. The answer choice that fixes this problem is "by her parents' actions and comments."
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Baseball player's are known for their quick reaction times.
The example sentence is simply talking about baseball players in general, while the sentence is discussing some attributes possessed by those players, there is no grammatical need to indicate possession in this sentence, so no apostrophe is needed.
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
The last thing a teacher wants is to see one of her student's fail.
In the sentence, "student's" is written as a possesive, when it actually is functioning as a simple plural noun. The only change that needs to be made in the sentence is to remove the apostrophe from "student's," making the correct answer "The last thing a teacher wants is to see one of her students fail."
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Hardly any of the senators had even heard of the issue before the committee held it's meeting.
The use of "it's" is only correct when "it's" is being used as the contraction of "it is." "Its" is the word to use when you need the possessive form of "it," as in this sentence. Thus, the correct answer choice is "before the committee held its meeting."
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
The fighter's had to be held back, as they kept attempting to hit each other before the boxing match had officially begun.
The construction of "fighter's" is incorrect, as it is written as a possesive form, but should only be a simple plural. The only correction that needs to be made is that "fighter's" needs to be changed to "fighters." Therefore, the correct answer choice is "The fighters had to be held back."
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Select the underlined word or phrase that needs to be changed to make the sentence correct. Some sentences contain no error at all.
Amys' favorite TV show is on Tuesday night but she doesn't have time to watch it until Wednesday. No error
"Amy" is a singular subject who possesses the favorite show, so the apostrophe should be before the "s," as in "Amy's." It would only make sense to have the apostrophe after the "s" if there were multiple Amys and they all had the same favorite show, which is not the case in this sentence.
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
The government appears to have lost sight of it's purpose.
When intending to convey possession, and using the pronoun "it," the proper construction is "its" without an apostrophe; therefore, the best version of the underlined section above is "lost sight of its purpose." "It's" is a contraction of "it is." This is among the most common errors in English writing.
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Bills' pencil broke, so he was unable to finish the exam.
With possession, for most singular nouns (as is the case with the proper noun, "Bill"), the correct construction is to follow the noun with an apostrophe, and then "s." Therefore, the best construction of the underlined portion is "Bill's pencil." An apostrophe after an "s," as in the case of, for instance, "the soldiers' guns," is used to signal possession by a plural noun.
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Replace the underlined portion with the answer choice that results in a sentence that is clear, precise, and meets the requirements of standard written English. One of the answer choices reproduces the underlined portion as it is written in the sentence.
Amandas watch broke when it fell off of the conveyor belt.
When indicating possession in a sentence where the subject of the sentence is a third person, singular noun, you must follow that noun with an apostrophe and then an "s." The best construction of the underlined portion above is, "Amanda's watch." "Amandas" would be the plural noun for a group of women all named Amanda. An apostrophe following an "s" is used to denote possession for plural nouns ending in an "s."
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