Where does the apostrophe go or is one needed?
This parks rules were hard to understand?
The rangers instructions helped.
Whose rules?
Whose instructions?
What do you think?
I think the first one is park's because it is one park.
I think the second one is ranger's because it is singular too?
Both are correct! :-)
When it comes to apostrophes, they are typically used in two main situations: to indicate possession and to show the omission of letters.
In the first sentence, "This park's rules were hard to understand," the apostrophe is placed after the word "park" to indicate possession. The rules belong to the park, so we use the apostrophe followed by the letter "s" to show this ownership.
In the second sentence, "The ranger's instructions helped," the apostrophe is placed after the word "ranger" to indicate possession. The instructions belong to the ranger, so we use the apostrophe followed by the letter "s" to show this ownership.
It's important to note that if the word already ends with an "s," you have the option to either add an apostrophe only or to add an apostrophe followed by another "s." For example, both "James' car" and "James's car" are considered correct, although the latter is more commonly used.
In the first sentence you provided, "This parks rules were hard to understand," there is no apostrophe. However, it should be corrected to "This park's rules were hard to understand" as explained above.
In the second sentence, "The rangers instructions helped," there is also no apostrophe. However, it should be corrected to "The ranger's instructions helped" to indicate possession.