Plural Possessive Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. Which phrase correctly refers to recipes belonging to both of your sisters-in-law?
Use “my sister’s-in-law recipes,” placing the possessive mark inside the compound.
Use “my sisters’-in-law recipes,” attaching the possessive mark before the rest of the compound.
Use “my sisters-in-law’s recipes,” pluralizing the main noun and making the full compound possessive.
Use “my sisters-in-laws’ recipes,” pluralizing law because it appears last.
2. Which phrase correctly names a nesting area used by several geese?
Use “the goose’s nesting area,” which refers to a single goose.
Use “the geese’s nesting area” because geese is an irregular plural that does not end in s.
Use “the geeses’ nesting area” because an s must be added before the possessive apostrophe.
Use “the bird nesting areas,” which changes the specific owners and makes area plural.
3. Which sentence correctly shows that a lounge is intended for multiple teachers?
The teacher’s lounge is being renovated, indicating that one teacher owns or uses it.
The teachers’ lounge is being renovated, indicating that multiple teachers use it.
The teaching lounge is being renovated, replacing the intended reference to the teachers.
The teachers are renovating a lounge, which makes teachers possessive without an apostrophe.
4. Several players left their uniforms in the locker room. Which sentence is correctly punctuated?
The player’s uniform was left in the locker room, referring to one player and one uniform.
The team uniform was left in the locker room, replacing the players with a collective noun.
The players left uniforms in the locker room, expressing the action without stating possession.
The players’ uniforms were left in the locker room, showing that the uniforms belong to several players.
5. Only one actress owns the dressing room. Which sentence is correct?
The actress’s dressing room is upstairs.
The actresses’ dressing room is upstairs, indicating ownership by several actresses.
The actors’ dressing room is upstairs, changing both the noun and the number of owners.
The dressing rooms for the actress are upstairs, changing one room into several rooms.
6. Complete the sentence correctly: “Those seats belong to them, so the seats are _____.”
“their,” because a possessive determiner can stand alone after are.
“their’s,” because possessive pronouns always use apostrophe-s.
“theirs,” because this possessive pronoun takes no apostrophe.
“them,” because an object pronoun can directly express ownership.
7. Maya and Leo are a couple with two daughters. Several rooms belong to those daughters. Which sentence is correct?
Maya and Leo’s daughter’s room is upstairs, referring to one daughter and one room.
Maya and Leo’s daughters’ rooms are upstairs, showing joint parenthood and multiple daughters as possessors.
Maya’s and Leo’s rooms are upstairs, making the rooms belong directly and separately to the two adults.
The daughter room of Maya and Leo is upstairs, changing both daughters and rooms to singular.
8. An investigator compares statements made by three witnesses. Which sentence is correctly written?
The witness’s statement contained several differences, referring to one witness and one statement.
The witness statements matched completely, using witness as a noun modifier and changing the meaning.
The witnesses’ statements contained several differences, showing statements belonging to multiple witnesses.
The witnesses gave one shared statement, describing a single collective account instead.
9. How should you write “the schedule for several men”?
Write “the men’s schedule” because men is an irregular plural that does not end in s.
Write “the man’s schedule” because schedule is singular.
Write “the mens’ schedule” because all plural possessives take a final apostrophe only.
Write “the male schedules” because possession cannot be shown with an irregular plural.
10. Which sentence means that a lounge is shared by several nurses?
The nurse’s lounge is near the lobby, indicating a lounge associated with one nurse.
A nursing lounge is near the lobby, using an adjective rather than a plural possessive.
The nurses’ lounge is near the lobby, indicating a lounge for multiple nurses.
The nurses use the lobby as a lounge, changing the location and removing the possession relationship.
11. Which phrase correctly refers to a playground used by and designated for several children?
Use “child’s playground” because the noun after it is singular.
Use “childrens’ playground” because every plural possessive ends with only an apostrophe.
Use “children playground” because irregular plurals cannot be possessive.
Use “children’s playground” because children is plural but does not end in s.
12. Three dogs have leashes, and the leashes become tangled. Which wording is correct?
The dog’s leash became tangled, referring to one dog and one leash.
The dogs became tangled with a leash, making the dogs rather than their leashes the focus.
The dogs’s leashes became tangled because apostrophe-s must follow every owner.
The dogs’ leashes became tangled, showing that the leashes belong to multiple dogs.
13. A house belongs to the entire Garcia family. Which phrase uses the family name correctly?
Use “the Garcias’ house” after making Garcia plural and then possessive.
Use “the Garcia’s house” because a family surname never changes to show a group.
Use “the Garcia house” because surnames cannot take possessive punctuation.
Use “the Garcias’s house” because every possessive requires apostrophe-s.
14. Which phrase correctly means “toys belonging to several babies”?
Use “a baby’s toy,” referring to one toy belonging to one baby.
Use “baby toys,” describing a type of toy without explicitly showing ownership.
Use “babies’s toys,” adding apostrophe-s after a regular plural ending in s.
Use “babies’ toys,” placing the apostrophe after the s of the regular plural.
15. Two daughters are visiting their parents. Which sentence correctly describes the visit belonging to both daughters?
The daughter’s visit lasted all weekend, referring to one daughter.
The daughters’ visit lasted all weekend, referring to both daughters.
The visit by the daughters lasted all weekend, but “daughters” must take no possessive mark in this construction.
The daughters’s visit lasted all weekend because every possessive noun takes apostrophe-s.
16. Two companies have different policies. Which sentence correctly expresses that idea?
The companies’ policies differ.
The company’s policy differs, referring to one company and one policy.
The corporate policy differs, describing a general policy rather than policies belonging to two companies.
The companies have a shared policy, stating that both follow the same policy.