Standard English ConventionsEasy–MediumPossessive vs. contraction
Standard English Conventions practice question
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English? The company announced that ____ new headquarters would open downtown next spring.
- A. it's
- B. itsCorrect
- C. its'
- D. their
Answer: B. its
'Its' is the possessive form (the headquarters belonging to the company). 'It's' means 'it is'; 'its'' is not a word; 'their' is plural and doesn't agree with the singular 'company'.
Why the other answers are wrong
- A. it's
- 'It's' is the contraction for 'it is,' which would give you 'it is new headquarters would open'; the possessive form has no apostrophe.
- C. its'
- 'Its'' isn't a word in English — 'its' is already possessive and never takes an apostrophe.
- D. their
- 'Their' is plural, but the possessor here is 'the company,' a singular noun, so it takes the singular possessive 'its.'
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