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SAT apostrophes: possessives, plurals, and its vs. it’s

Student, students, student’s, or students’? Learn a two-question test for apostrophes, why possessive pronouns never use them, and the its/it’s check that takes two seconds.

SPSAT Practice Editorial6 min read

The short version

What you'll take away

  • Plural nouns add -s with no apostrophe; possessive nouns add ’s (one owner) or s’ (many owners ending in s).
  • Possessive pronouns, its, their, whose, and your, never take an apostrophe.
  • It’s, they’re, who’s, and you’re are contractions: read them as “it is,” “they are,” and so on.
In this article

Four forms of one noun

Plurals and possessives fall under Form, Structure, and Sense in the Standard English Conventions domain. The SAT often offers all four forms of a noun as answer choices, so the question is really two questions: is there one or more than one, and does it own something?

See the skill

Student, students, student’s, students’

One, owns nothing

student

A student asked a question.

Many, own nothing

students

The students asked questions.

One owner

student’s

One student’s essay won the prize.

Many owners

students’

All the students’ essays were graded.

Use the visual as a reasoning aid: tie each choice to the relationship, grammar, or evidence the passage actually gives.

Pronouns break the apostrophe habit

Possessive pronouns already show ownership, so they never take an apostrophe: its, their, whose, your, ours. The apostrophe versions are contractions: it’s means “it is” or “it has,” they’re means “they are,” and who’s means “who is.”
The test is quick. Replace the word with the expanded version. “The company released it is report” does not work, so the answer is “its.”

See the skill

The apostrophe decision

  1. Is it a pronoun?

    Its, their, whose, your, and their contractions.

    Can expand to “it is,” “they are”…

    Use the contraction: it’s, they’re, who’s.

    Shows ownership

    No apostrophe: its, their, whose.

  2. Is it a noun that owns something?

    Look for the thing owned right after it: the student’s essay.

    One owner

    Add ’s: the student’s essay.

    Many owners (plural ending in s)

    Add only an apostrophe: the students’ essays.

  3. Owns nothing?

    Use the plain plural with no apostrophe: the students.

Collective nouns like committee and company are singular, so their possessive pronoun is “its,” not “their.”

Try one

Both blanks follow the rules above. Decide each one separately.

Your turn

Quick practice

The committee released ___ findings after reviewing all twelve ___ applications. Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?

Hint: How many committees, and how many students?

Choose one answer

Practice: try these before checking the answers

Ask: how many, and does it own something?
  • 1. Both (dog’s / dogs’) bowls were empty.
  • 2. (Its / It’s) going to rain this afternoon.
  • 3. The library expanded the (children’s / childrens’) section.
  • 4. (Whose / Who’s) notebook is on the desk?

Sources & further reading

One step from here

Put the idea to work.

SAT Practice helps you turn questions into useful feedback, so each session has a next step.

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