Plurals and Possessives Practice Questions

“The house was showing signs of wear along it’s foundation.”

1. What correction should be made to the sentence above?

1. Change “house” to “houses.”
2. Change “was showing” to “had shown.”
3. Change “it’s” to “its.”
4. Change “foundation” to “foundations.”
5. No correction is needed.

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Answer: C. Change “it’s” to “its.”

The sentence needs the possessive form its, meaning belonging to it.

It’s is a contraction of it is, which does not fit the sentence.

“Susan’s group had always advocated for woman’s rights.”

2. What correction should be made to the sentence above?

1. Change “Susan’s” to “Susans’.”
2. Change “woman’s” to “women’s.”
3. Change “woman’s” to “womens’.”
4. Change “always” to “alway’s.”
5. No correction is needed.

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Answer: B. Change “woman’s” to “women’s.”

The sentence refers to the rights of women in general, so the plural possessive form is needed.

Women is already plural, so the possessive form is women’s, not womens’.

“We are having a sale today featuring three pair of pants for $14.95.”

3. What correction should be made to the sentence above?

1. Change “pair” to “pairs.”
2. Change “sale” to “sales.”
3. Make “are having” “have.”
4. Change “pair” to “pair’s.”
5. No correction is needed.

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Answer: A. Change “pair” to “pairs.”

The word pair is singular. Since the sentence refers to three pairs, the plural form is needed.

The correct phrase is three pairs of pants.

“Hernán Cortés’s conquistadores brought an end to the Aztec Empire in Mexico.”

4. What correction should be made to the sentence above?

1. Change “Cortés’” to “Cortés.”
2. It should be spelled “Corté’s.”
3. It should say “conquistadore’s.”
4. Change “Cortés’s” to “Cortés’.”
5. No correction is needed.

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Answer: E. No correction is needed.

The possessive form Cortés’s is acceptable and commonly preferred for a singular proper name ending in s.

Conquistadores is plural but not possessive, so it does not need an apostrophe.

“I found two boy’s jackets that were left on the school bus.”

5. What correction should be made to the sentence above?

1. “Jackets” should be “jacket’s.”
2. “Boy’s” should be “boys.”
3. Change “boy’s” to “boys’s.”
4. Change “boy’s” to “boys’.”
5. No correction is needed.

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Answer: D. Change “boy’s” to “boys’.”

The sentence refers to jackets belonging to more than one boy.

For a plural noun ending in s, add only an apostrophe: boys’ jackets.

“We went to visit the Gutierrezes yesterday.”

6. What correction should be made to the sentence above?

1. It should be “Gutierrez.”
2. It should be “Gutierrezs.”
3. It should be “Gutierrezes’.”
4. It should be “Gutierrez’s.”
5. No correction is needed.

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Answer: E. No correction is needed.

The sentence refers to the Gutierrez family, so the surname must be plural.

Names ending in z usually form the plural by adding es: Gutierrezes.

No apostrophe is needed because the name is plural but not possessive.

“Were you at the Jones’s big party last month?”

7. What correction should be made to the sentence above?

1. The name should be spelled “Jones.”
2. Change “Jones’s” to “Jone’s.”
3. Change “Jones’s” to “Joneses’.”
4. The name should be spelled “Jones’.”
5. No correction is needed.

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Answer: C. Change “Jones’s” to “Joneses’.”

The sentence refers to a party belonging to the Jones family.

First make the name plural: Joneses. Then make it possessive by adding an apostrophe: Joneses’.

“Kathleen has three sister-in-laws.”

8. What correction should be made to the sentence above?

1. Change it to “sister-in-law’s.”
2. Change it to “sisters-in-law.”
3. It should say “sisters-in-laws.”
4. It should be “sisters-in-law’s.”
5. No correction is needed.

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Answer: B. Change it to “sisters-in-law.”

For compound nouns such as sister-in-law, the main noun is usually pluralized.

The plural form is sisters-in-law, not sister-in-laws.

No apostrophe is needed because the phrase is plural but not possessive.

“These are both my brother-in-laws’ cars.”

9. What correction should be made to the sentence above?

1. Change “brother-in-laws’” to “brothers-in-law’s.”
2. Change “brother-in-laws’” to “brothers’-in-law.”
3. Change “brother-in-laws’” to “brothers-in-laws’.”
4. Change “brother-in-laws’” to “brother-in-law’s.”
5. No correction is needed.

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Answer: A. Change “brother-in-laws’” to “brothers-in-law’s.”

The plural of brother-in-law is brothers-in-law.

To make that plural compound noun possessive, add apostrophe + s at the end: brothers-in-law’s.

“This jacket is her’s, not your’s.”

10. What correction should be made to the sentence above?

1. Change it to “her’s, not yours.”
2. Change it to “hers, not your’s.”
3. Change it to “hers, not yours’.”
4. Change it to “hers, not yours.”
5. No correction is needed.

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Answer: D. Change it to “hers, not yours.”

Possessive pronouns do not use apostrophes.

Hers and yours already show possession, so her’s and your’s are incorrect.