GRAMMAR PRACTICE

Error #1 The boy’s are…

The student’s are…

What’s with S and ‘S

A plural noun is generally formed by adding s or es to it. Example, the word boy
becomes boys (without apostrophe) in the plural form. Box becomes boxes.

Apostrophe is only used to indicate possession or ownership. For example: The boy’s
bike
is new. The apostrophe is used to indicate that the bike belongs to the boy. If the noun (boy) is
plural (boys), then the apostrophe is used after s. Ex.: The boys’ hats are all green.

Clue: To test if you are to use s or not, check whether the noun shows ownership or not. In the
sentence “The boys’ hats are all green”, the boys obviously own the hat.

BUT remember: NOT all plural nouns end with S. As you learned in elementary or high school,
some nouns such as child, ox, tooth, foot, man, woman, scarf, etc have different plural forms.

Exercise 1 Write the plural form of the following nouns:

Plural Possessive Singular Possessive

Plural
Ex. dog _____dogs_____ ____dog’s________ _____dogs’_______
1. student _____________ ________________ ________________
2. teacher _____________ ________________ ________________
3. pen _____________ ________________ ________________
4. child _____________ ________________ ________________
5. foot _____________ ________________ ________________
6. man _____________ ________________ ________________
7. leaf _____________ ________________
________________
8. bus _____________ ________________ ________________
9. book _____________ ________________ ________________
10. box _____________ ________________
________________
Error #2 Its hot today.
I like it’s color.

Itch with It’s and Its

It’s is a contraction of “it is”. Its is a pronoun.

Example:
It’s (It is) hot today.
I’ve just bought a new bag. I like its color.

Exercise 1 Fill in the blanks with either its or it’s.

1. _____ difficult to study and work at the same time.

2. My friend assured me that _____ okay to use his computer in the meantime.
3. This perfume is so old that I think it has lost _____ scent.
4. My pet dog always cleans _____ own fur. So _____ always clean.

If you are still confused after Exercise 1, try this self-help tip:
Substitute the it is expression for the it’s/its in a sentence. Example in the
sentence,
The dog licks it’s paws. You say The dog licks [it is] paws. You’re now sure that the sentence is
WRONG. So it must be its. The dog licks its paws.
I don’t think its true. You say I don’t think [it is] true. Now you know you have to use it’s
instead of its.