Possessives and apostrophes — Digital SAT Reading & Writing practice
Apostrophes for possession versus contractions and plurals.
Key ideas to know
Singular vs Plural Possessives
Choose the correct form: The teacher graded ______ essays quickly. (A) student's (B) students'
B, students'. Plural nouns ending in s take only an apostrophe after the s. Since multiple students wrote essays, use the plural possessive.
Watch out: Adding 's to a plural noun ending in s creates a false singular possessive instead of marking multiple owners.
Irregular Plural Possessives
The sentence reads: "The childrens' toys were scattered across the floor." Identify the error and provide the correct form.
Error: childrens' is incorrect. Irregular plurals that do not end in s add 's to show possession. Correct form: children's.
Watch out: Applying the regular plural possessive rule (apostrophe only) to irregular plurals like children, men, or people creates a grammatical error.
Apostrophes in Possessive Pronouns
Which option correctly completes the sentence? "After the long hike, we forgot ______ backpacks at the trailhead." (A) it's (B) its (C) their (D) theirs'
C, their. Possessive pronouns like his, hers, ours, yours, theirs, and whose never take an apostrophe. It is plural to match "we".
Watch out: Confusing the possessive pronoun their with the contraction they're or adding an apostrophe to form a false plural possessive like theirs'.
It's vs its
Choose the correct pair: “___ going to rain, but the museum kept ___ doors open.” (A) Its / its (B) It's / its (C) It's / it's (D) Its / it's
B. It's means it is, so the contraction needs an apostrophe. Its with no apostrophe shows possession.
Watch out: Possessive pronouns never take an apostrophe, even though possessive nouns do (the dog's bowl).
Apostrophes in Plurals
The sentence reads: "I collected three vintage comic books from the 1980's." Identify the error and provide the correct form.
Error: 1980's incorrectly uses an apostrophe for a plural. Decades and regular nouns never take apostrophes to form plurals. Correct form: 1980s.
Watch out: Adding an apostrophe before the s to make a word plural is a persistent error that violates standard convention for both nouns and decades.