SAT OwlQuestion bank / Form, Structure, and Sense
In a study of early language development, researchers placed small recording devices in families' homes. Over several months, the devices captured the ______ conversations with their parents, allowing the researchers to count how many words each child heard per day.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
children's
childrens'
childrens
children
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A
The conversations belong to the children, so a possessive is needed. "Children" is an irregular plural that doesn't end in s, so its possessive is formed by adding an apostrophe and s: "children's."
Choice B follows the rule for plurals ending in s, but "children" doesn't end in s, so it takes 's.
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