Which sentence correctly uses apostrophes for possessive nouns?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A. The children's playground was refurbished after two years' planning by the citizens' committee.
- Step 1: 'Children' is an irregular plural that forms its possessive with apostrophe-s ('children's').
- Step 2: 'Two years' is a plural time expression requiring an apostrophe after the s ('two years'').
- Step 3: 'Citizens' is a regular plural ending in s, forming its possessive with an apostrophe after the s ('citizens'').
Answer
The children's playground was refurbished after two years' planning by the citizens' committee.
Why not the others: 'The childrens' playground' misplaces the apostrophe on irregular plural 'children'; 'two year's' treats plural years as singular; 'years's' adds an erroneous extra 's'.
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