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Question

Difficulty: MediumApostrophes for Possessives and Contractions

During the annual safety inspection, the two refineries' supervisors reviewed the safety procedures to ensure they're alignment with federal standards.

Which choice is the correct spelling and punctuation for the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. B
    refinery's supervisors reviewed the safety procedures to ensure their
  3. refineries' supervisors reviewed the safety procedures to ensure theirAnswer
  4. D
    refineries supervisors reviewed the safety procedures to ensure there

Answer

refineries' supervisors reviewed the safety procedures to ensure their
The correct answer correctly uses the plural possessive 'refineries\'' to show possession by the two facilities mentioned in the sentence, and it uses the possessive pronoun 'their' to properly modify the noun 'alignment'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Determine if the noun 'refineries' should be singular or plural, and if it requires a possessive apostrophe.
The sentence mentions 'two' facilities, meaning the plural form 'refineries' is required. Since the supervisors belong to these refineries, it must be possessive, yielding the plural possessive form 'refineries''.
Plural nouns ending in -s form the possessive by adding an apostrophe after the -s.
2
Determine whether the pronoun modifying 'alignment' should be a contraction, adverb, or possessive pronoun.
The pronoun modifies the noun 'alignment', so the possessive pronoun 'their' is required.
The word 'they're' is a contraction of 'they are', which would create a grammatical error ('to ensure they are alignment'), and 'there' refers to a place or direction.
3
Combine the correct choices to select the appropriate option.
The correct phrasing is 'refineries' supervisors reviewed the safety procedures to ensure their'.
This option correctly combines the plural possessive 'refineries'' and the possessive pronoun 'their'.

Key Concept

Apostrophes for Possessives and Contractions
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Topics

Apostrophes for Possessives and Contractions

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