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Apostrophes and possessives

Decide between a plural, a singular possessive, and a plural possessive, and separate possessives from contractions.

Standard English ConventionsReading and Writing
Practice apostrophes and possessives free

What the SAT actually asks

You choose among forms of a noun that differ only in apostrophe placement, such as a plural with no apostrophe, a singular possessive with an apostrophe before the s, and a plural possessive with the apostrophe after the s. The question is whether the noun is simply plural or actually owns the thing that follows it, and if it owns it, whether one or more than one is doing the owning. Possessive pronouns such as its, theirs, and whose never take apostrophes.

Apostrophe questions typically appear about 1 to 2 times among the 54 reading and writing questions.

Where students lose points

How to attack these questions

  1. 1Ask whether the noun owns the word that comes right after it, and if it does not, use the plain plural.
  2. 2If it does own something, count the owners first, then place the apostrophe before the s for one and after the s for more than one.
  3. 3For any word with an apostrophe, read it as two separate words and see whether the sentence still works.

Example questions

Written for this skill, with the answer explained. 44 more are in the app.

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Apostrophes and possessives
Real question

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? ______ turn is it to serve next in the tournament?

Easier

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? The four ______ reports were bound in a single volume.

  • A) interns
  • B) interns's
  • C) intern's
  • D) interns' ✓

Why: The four interns produced the reports that are bound together, so the blank needs the plural possessive, and a plural ending in -s takes only an apostrophe: interns'. intern's is the singular possessive and contradicts The four. interns with no apostrophe is a plain plural and cannot show that the reports belong to them. interns's adds a second possessive -s to a plural that already ends in s, which Standard English does not do.

Easier

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? No one could tell ______ jacket had been left in the lobby overnight.

  • A) who is
  • B) whose ✓
  • C) who's
  • D) whos

Why: The blank comes directly before the noun jacket and shows who owns it, so the possessive whose is needed. who's is the contraction of who is and cannot sit in front of a noun it is supposed to own. who is written in full has the same problem, adding a second verb to a clause that already has had been left. whos lacks the apostrophe that marks a contraction and is not a Standard English word.

Medium

Two chemists shared a bench, a notebook and a single fume hood in 1951, and the laboratory photographs from that year show them working side by side. ______ joint paper on chain transfer came out under both names, and neither ever published on the topic separately afterward.

Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

  • A) Ferreiro's and Oyelaran's
  • B) Ferreiro and Oyelaran's ✓
  • C) Ferreiros and Oyelarans'
  • D) Ferreiro and Oyelarans

Why: When two people own one thing together, only the second name takes the possessive, so "Ferreiro and Oyelaran's joint paper" is correct. "Ferreiro's and Oyelaran's" marks separate ownership, which "joint" and "under both names" rule out; "Ferreiros and Oyelarans'" turns the surnames into plurals; and "Ferreiro and Oyelarans" shows no possession at all. Ferreiro's and Oyelaran's is two separate possessives, which splits ownership of one jointly written paper into two papers. Ferreiros and Oyelarans' is pluralizes both surnames and then marks only the second as possessive. Ferreiro and Oyelarans is no possessive marker on either name.

Questions students ask

How do I decide between a plural and a possessive?

Check whether the noun owns the word right after it. The researchers published a paper uses a plain plural. The researchers findings, meaning the findings belonging to them, needs the plural possessive with the apostrophe after the s.

Where does the apostrophe go for a plural possessive?

For a plural noun already ending in s, put the apostrophe after that s. For an irregular plural that does not end in s, such as children, add an apostrophe and then an s, giving children's.

Do possessive pronouns take apostrophes?

No. Its, hers, theirs, ours, yours, and whose are already possessive and never take an apostrophe. Any apostrophe in one of those words makes it a contraction, which means something different.

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Questions on apostrophes and possessives alone, with explanations on every one, and the app tracks which ones you keep missing.

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