Mova0.5 pre-release⌕
☰
home / at school / English / 34

Apostrophes: missing letters and belonging

Tests: 3 of 11 right · Exam: 0 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 3 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 34 of the english course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.

Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.

Test 1 · right ✓

Your mate says "apostrophes just mean there's an s coming, innit." What is wrong with that?

  • 1. It only goes wrong in American English — no support
  • 2. Nothing, that is exactly the rule — no support
  • 3. Apostrophes only ever come before an s — no support
  • 4. Many plurals with s need none, and some apostrophes have no s — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 34, line 11: «Ordinary plurals never take an apostrophe: bananas, apples, cars.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «take» (+2); the same doer «ordinary plurals» (+2); a different thing acted on (counts against) (+1). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · wrong ✗

★★★ "The girl's dogs' bowls." How many girls and how many dogs?

  • 1. Many girls and one dog — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. One girl and one dog — no support
  • 3. Many girls and many dogs — no support
  • 4. One girl and more than one dog — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · wrong ✗

In a cartoon, a sign says "Free kitten's to good home." What should it say?

  • 1. Free kitten to good home's — ← Mova's choice · score 5
  • 2. Free kittens to good home — ✓ the right answer · score 5
  • 3. Free kittens' to good home — score 5
  • 4. Free kitten's' to good home — score 5

Why: It took the question to ask what it is done to. It chose option 1 with score 5, tied with another option at 5 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 34, line 4: «Apostrophes never make ordinary plurals: a market sign saying "Banana's £1" makes people giggle, because it should simply be "Bananas £1".», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «say» (+4); the same doer «market sign» (+1). The right option, 2, scored 5. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · wrong ✗

A lad in Cork says "Whose round is it, yer man's?" ("Yer man" means that fella there.) Why "whose", not "who's"?

  • 1. They are the same word, just spelled two ways — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. Who's is only used in questions — no support
  • 3. It asks about belonging, not "who is" — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 4. Whose is the short form of who is — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · right ✓

What would happen if you wrote "We were here" as "We're here"?

  • 1. It would change from the past to the present — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 2
  • 2. It would show belonging — no support
  • 3. It would become a question — no support
  • 4. Nothing at all, the meaning stays exactly the same — no support

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 31, line 3: «Each tense has helpers: "I am running" (am + -ing) is happening right now, "I was running" was going on in the past, and "I have eaten" (have + eaten) is past…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same place «past» (+4). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · wrong ✗

Dad, bit snappy: "It's not 'your welcome', it's 'you're welcome', get it right." Why is Dad right?

  • 1. "Welcome" needs an apostrophe — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. "Your" is always a rude word — no support
  • 3. "You're" shows belonging — no support
  • 4. "You're" stands for "you are" — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · wrong ✗

★★★ How many apostrophes are needed in "Its the mens football match and its kick-off is at six oclock"?

  • 1. Two — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. Three — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 3. Five — no support
  • 4. Four — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · right ✓

Aussie kid: "Me mates footy boots are heaps muddy." ("Footy" is football, "heaps" means very.) One mate. Where is the apostrophe in standard writing?

  • 1. mate's — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 2. muddy's — no support
  • 3. boot's — no support
  • 4. mates' — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · wrong ✗

Which shows the toys belong to the women?

  • 1. the womens' toys — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. the women toy's — no support
  • 3. the womans' toys — no support
  • 4. the women's toys — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · wrong ✗

Cousin in Ohio, Gen Alpha: "This sandwich is bussin', its fire." ("Bussin'" and "fire" both mean really good.) What should "its" be?

  • 1. its' — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. it is' — no support
  • 3. it's — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 4. its's — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · wrong ✗

★★★ "The horses' stables" and "the horse's stables". In which do the stables belong to more than one horse?

  • 1. The horse's stables — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. The horses' stables — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 3. Both of them — no support
  • 4. Neither of them — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the correctly punctuated form denoting the toys belonging to a group of children.

  • 1. the childrens toys' — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. the children'ss toys — no support
  • 3. the children's toys — ✓ the right answer · no support
  • 4. the childrens' toys — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the function of the apostrophe in "can't"?

  • 1. It denotes possession — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. It indicates a plural — no support
  • 3. It separates two clauses — no support
  • 4. It marks the omission of letters — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · wrong ✗

Select the sentence consistent with the established rules concerning "its" and "it's".

  • 1. Its late and the cat wants its tea. — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. It's late and the cat wants it's tea. — no support
  • 3. Its late and the cat wants it's tea. — no support
  • 4. It's late and the cat wants its tea. — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

Ascertain the correct form signifying that a bone is in the possession of a single dog.

  • 1. the dogs' bone — ← Mova's choice · no support
  • 2. the dogs bone — no support
  • 3. the dog bone's — no support
  • 4. the dog's bone — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/english/34-apostrophes-missing-letters-and-belonging/