Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumApostrophes for Possessives and Contractions

The museum's new exhibit features several [artist's] paintings from the Renaissance, though most of the collection is dedicated to local modern sculptors.

Which of the following is the correct punctuation for the underlined word in the sentence above?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. artists'Answer
  3. C
    artists
  4. D
    artists's

Answer

artists'
The correct answer is the plural possessive form of the noun. The context clue 'several' establishes that there are multiple artists. To show that these multiple artists own the paintings, the apostrophe must be placed after the 's' of the plural noun 'artists', resulting in 'artists'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the context around the underlined word to determine if the noun is singular or plural.
The word 'several' preceding the noun indicates that there are multiple artists, meaning a plural noun is required.
Correct punctuation depends on whether the noun is singular or plural.
2
Determine if the noun needs to show possession.
The paintings belong to the artists, so a possessive form is necessary.
Possession must be established because the paintings are owned by the artists.
3
Apply the rule for forming the possessive of a plural noun ending in 's'.
The plural noun 'artists' becomes possessive by adding an apostrophe after the 's', yielding 'artists'.
Regular plural nouns ending in 's' form their possessive by adding only an apostrophe at the very end.

Key Concept

Plural possessive nouns are formed by adding an apostrophe after the final 's' of the plural noun.
Rate this question

Topics

Apostrophes for Possessives and Contractions

More questions from this topic