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Difficulty: HardApostrophes for Possessives and Contractions

In the sentence below, a portion is underlined:

Although both archeological teams analyzed the same tomb, each team's researchers questioned it's dating and authenticity.

Which of the following options represents the correct punctuation and spelling for the underlined portion of the sentence?

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. team's researchers questioned itsAnswer
  3. C
    teams' researchers questioned its
  4. D
    teams' researchers questioned it's

Answer

team's researchers questioned its
The correct option correctly uses the singular possessive noun 'team's' to agree with the singular modifier 'each' and the possessive pronoun 'its' to indicate ownership of the dating of the tomb.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the subject of the clause to determine the correct noun possession form.
The word 'each' requires a singular noun, so the possessive form must be singular ('team's') rather than plural ('teams'').
This establishes that the researchers belong to each individual team.
2
Determine the correct form of the pronoun referring to the tomb's dating.
The possessive pronoun 'its' (no apostrophe) is required to show possession of 'dating'.
The contraction 'it's' means 'it is' or 'it has' and is grammatically incorrect in this context.
3
Combine the singular possessive noun and the correct possessive pronoun.
The correct phrasing is 'team's researchers questioned its'.
This resolves both the punctuation error of the noun possessive and the homophone confusion of the pronoun.

Key Concept

Apostrophes for Possessives and Contractions
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Topics

Apostrophes for Possessives and Contractions

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