Which word should replace the underlined word? “The [childs] played in the park.”
Use Standard Grammar, Usage, and Spelling to Edit · TELPAS Grade 2 writing. The correct answer, and the reasoning behind it.
Reporting category 2: find and fix an error in a short text. On the real test some of these are typed answers or sentence rewrites. Here they are multiple choice so they can be checked.
The question
Choose the best answer.
Read the sentence. The underlined word has an error. The [childs] played in the park. Which word should replace the underlined word?
- childes
- child's
- childrens
- childrenCorrect answer
Why “children” is correct
A few nouns do not add -s for the plural. They change in a special way: child becomes children, man becomes men, foot becomes feet. "Childs" is a very common error because it follows the normal rule.
Why the other answers are wrong
- childes — Child does not take -es. Its plural is a different word: children.
- child's — Child's with an apostrophe shows that something belongs to a child. It is not a plural.
- childrens — Children is already plural. Adding -s again is not correct.
Practice more of this
More writing practice for Grade 2, or see the TELPAS practice test for 2nd grade.
This is an independent study resource. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Texas Education Agency or the official TELPAS program. All questions here are original practice material written to match the published test design.