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Question

Difficulty: HardApostrophes for Possessives and Contractions

Read the following sentence and focus on the underlined portion:

Although the board approved the new initiative, the two directors' insistence on it's immediate implementation caused widespread concern among the staff.

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

  1. A
    NO CHANGE
  2. B
    director's insistence on its
  3. directors' insistence on itsAnswer
  4. D
    directors insistence on its'

Answer

directors' insistence on its
The correct option uses the plural possessive 'directors'' because the context refers to 'two directors.' It also correctly uses the possessive pronoun 'its' to modify 'immediate implementation,' referring back to the singular noun 'initiative.'

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the number of the noun showing possession.
The context mentions 'two directors', indicating a plural noun.
Determining if the noun is singular or plural is necessary to apply the correct possessive punctuation rule.
2
Apply the plural possessive punctuation rule.
The plural noun 'directors' ends in 's', so the apostrophe must go after the 's' to form 'directors'.
For plural nouns ending in 's', possession is indicated by adding only an apostrophe at the end.
3
Determine if a contraction or possessive pronoun is required for the second pronoun.
The sentence refers to the implementation of the initiative, which requires a possessive relationship ('its immediate implementation').
This determines whether 'its' or 'it's' is grammatically appropriate.
4
Select the correct spelling of the possessive pronoun.
The possessive pronoun is spelled 'its'. The spelling 'it's' is a contraction for 'it is', and 'its'' is grammatically invalid.
This avoids homophone and spelling confusion between possessive pronouns and contractions.

Key Concept

Distinguishing between singular and plural possessives, and between contractions and possessive pronouns.
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Topics

Apostrophes for Possessives and Contractions

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