Which word should replace the underlined word? “The [girls] soccer team practices on the field behind the gym.”
Use Standard Grammar, Usage, and Spelling to Edit · TELPAS Grades 8–9 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. Then choose the best answer.
Read the sentence. The underlined word has an error. The [girls] soccer team practices on the field behind the gym. Which word should replace the underlined word?
- girls'Correct answer
- girl's
- girls's
- girl
Why “girls'” is correct
This tests possessive nouns. The team belongs to many girls, so the plural "girls" gets an apostrophe after the s: girls'. Where the apostrophe goes tells the reader whether one person or many people own something.
Why the other answers are wrong
- girl's — This shows one girl owns something, but the team has many girls.
- girls's — A plural noun that already ends in -s takes only an apostrophe.
- girl — "The girl soccer team" is not the standard way to name the team.
Practice more of this
More writing practice for Grades 8–9, or see the TELPAS practice test for 8th and 9th 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.