Which word should replace the underlined word? “The school band practiced every day, and [it's] concert on Friday was a big success.”

Use Standard Grammar, Usage, and Spelling to Edit · TELPAS Grades 6–7 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

Read the sentence. The underlined part has an error.

The school band practiced every day, and [it's] concert on Friday was a big success. Which word should replace the underlined word?

• Aits'
• BitsCorrect answer
• Cit is
• Dit

Why “its” is correct

This tests two commonly confused words. "It's" always means "it is" or "it has," while "its" shows that something belongs to "it," like "his" or "her." The concert belongs to the band, so the possessive "its" is correct. A quick check: if "it is" does not fit, the apostrophe is wrong.

Why the other answers are wrong

• its' — "Its'" is not a word in English; the possessive of "it" never has an apostrophe.
• it is — "It is concert" does not make sense; the sentence needs a word that shows ownership.
• it — "It concert" is missing the possessive form.

Practice more of this

More writing practice for Grades 6–7, or see the TELPAS practice test for 6th and 7th grade.