The apostrophe war
Tests: 2 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: ★ · Understood: 4 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72
Lesson 15 of the language 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's market stall sign says "Fresh egg's £2." He goes "what, it's proper English, innit." What's the fix?
- 1. Fresh eggs £2 — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. Fresh egg's' £2 — no support
- 3. Fresh eggs' £2 — no support
- 4. It's fine as it 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 2 · ★ · wrong ✗
A Gen Z cousin says "apostrophes are mid, nobody cares, fr." ("Mid" means meh, "fr" means for real.) What's true?
- 1. Apostrophes were banned in 2012 — ← Mova's choice · score 5
- 2. Nobody has ever argued about apostrophes — no support
- 3. Some people care a lot; councils even got complaints about removing them — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Only teachers have ever noticed them — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 5, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 15, line 11: «Shops choose their own names: Sainsbury's keeps its apostrophe, Harrods has none, and Waterstones dropped its apostrophe in 2012, causing an argument in the ne…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same thing acted on «apostrophe» (+4); the same place «2012» (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 3 · ★ · wrong ✗
What would happen if we stopped using apostrophes for belonging?
- 1. Every plural would need one — ← Mova's choice · score 0
- 2. Names would lose their capitals — no support
- 3. "The dog's bowl" and "the dogs' bowl" would look the same — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Nothing at all would change — no support
Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 1 with score 0, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 10, line 5: «Plurals never need an apostrophe: a shop sign "Tomatoe's 50p" is wrong; it should be "Tomatoes 50p".», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «need» (+2); the same doer «plurals» (+2). Against it: a different thing acted on (counts against) (-1); one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-3). The right option, 3, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 4 · ★ · right ✓
Your brother writes "the boys' football" about his own one ball. He has no brothers. What should it be?
- 1. the boy's football — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. the boys football's — no support
- 3. the boy's' football — no support
- 4. the boys' football — 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 · ★ · wrong ✗
A Newcastle fan writes "St James's Park". A Geordie mate says "nah, man, it's St James' Park, like on the sign." Who's right for that ground?
- 1. Nobody can know — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Both are wrong — no support
- 3. The Geordie mate, copy the official name — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. The fan, there's one rule for all — 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 6 · ★ · wrong ✗
Grandad grumbles "Waterstones without its apostrophe, the cheek!" Did the shop break a law?
- 1. Yes, it was fined in 2012 — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. No, companies choose their own names — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Yes, there's an apostrophe law — no support
- 4. No, because apostrophes don't exist — 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 ✗
In a cartoon, a sign says "Ladies toilet's". Fix it.
- 1. Ladie's toilets — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Ladies' toilets — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Ladies toilet's' — no support
- 4. Lady's toilet'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 8 · ★ · wrong ✗
A boomer uncle writes "the 1980's were rad." ("Rad" means great.) How would a modern style guide write the decade?
- 1. the 1980's — ← Mova's choice · score 12
- 2. the 1980s' — score 12
- 3. the 1980s — ✓ the right answer · score 12
- 4. the 80s's — score 12
Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 1 with score 12, tied with another option at 12 (the first shown, or the one claiming less beyond what it knows, wins). Its support: lesson 15, line 13: «Modern style guides write decades as "the 1990s" with no apostrophe; in "the '90s" the apostrophe shows the missing "19".», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «write» (+4); the same doer «modern style guides» (+4); the same thing acted on «decades» (+4). The right option, 3, scored 12. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 9 · ★ · wrong ✗
Your mate types "The phone lost it's charge." What's the quick test?
- 1. Ask whether the phone is plural — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Use it's whenever the word ends in s — no support
- 3. Try "it is": "lost it is charge" fails, so its — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 4. Add more apostrophes until it looks right — 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 ✗
A sign on a door says "Womens changing room". Fix it.
- 1. Womens' changing room — ← Mova's choice · score 7
- 2. Women's changing room — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Womens's changing room — no support
- 4. Woman's' changing room — no support
Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 7, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 15, line 17: «Plurals ending in s add just an apostrophe for belonging: ladies', the girls' changing room.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «change» (+4); the same thing acted on «room» (+4). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics
Test 11 · ★ · wrong ✗
Puzzle: "The teachers' room" and "The teacher's room". In which does one teacher own the room?
- 1. Both — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. The teacher's room — ✓ the right answer · no support
- 3. Neither — no support
- 4. The teachers' room — 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 ✗
Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the functions of the apostrophe?
- 1. It denotes the plural number of nouns — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. It separates items enumerated in a list — no support
- 3. It indicates an interrogative sentence — no support
- 4. It denotes the omission of letters or indicates possession — ✓ 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 2 · formal language · wrong ✗
Identify the formulation which indicates a single bowl held in common by several dogs.
- 1. the dog's bowls — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. the dogs bowl's — no support
- 3. the dog's bowl — no support
- 4. the dogs' bowl — ✓ 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 · right ✓
Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the possessive forms "James's" and "James'".
- 1. Both are in use, consistency within a text being the principal requirement — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · no support
- 2. The latter is erroneous in every circumstance — no support
- 3. The former is erroneous in every circumstance — no support
- 4. Both forms are prohibited by law — 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 correctly punctuated form of the notice.
- 1. Men's' toilets — ← Mova's choice · no support
- 2. Mens' toilets — no support
- 3. Mens toilets — no support
- 4. Men's toilets — ✓ 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/language/15-the-apostrophe-war/