In which one of the following sentences is the possessive used correctly.
A. The boy's basketball team plays every friday.
B. Their's is the first bus to arrive at school every morning.
C. The childrens' activity period lasts 15 minutes.
D. Carl's and Sara's schoolbooks are on the kitchen table.
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/possessives.htm
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To determine which sentence uses the possessive correctly, we need to review the rules for forming possessives.
The possessive form is used to show ownership or a relationship between two or more nouns. The general rule is to add an apostrophe and an "s" ('s) to the end of a singular noun to make it possessive. For plural nouns ending in "s," only an apostrophe (') is added. If the plural noun does not end in "s," then an apostrophe and an "s" ('s) are added.
Let's analyze each sentence:
A. The sentence "The boy's basketball team plays every Friday" is correct. It uses the possessive form correctly by indicating that the basketball team belongs to the boy.
B. The sentence "Their's is the first bus to arrive at school every morning" is incorrect. The word "Their's" is not a valid possessive form. The correct possessive form would be "Theirs," without an apostrophe, which indicates ownership.
C. The sentence "The childrens' activity period lasts 15 minutes" is incorrect. The plural noun "children" is formed by adding an "s" at the end, so the correct possessive form would be "children's," with an apostrophe before the "s". This indicates that the activity period belongs to the children.
D. The sentence "Carl's and Sara's schoolbooks are on the kitchen table" is correct. Each name is followed by an apostrophe and an "s" ('s), indicating that the schoolbooks belong to both Carl and Sara.
Therefore, the correct sentence using the possessive form is A. "The boy's basketball team plays every Friday."