Question

Form the possessive case of the nouns in apposition given in the bracket:
The kitten was the _____________________ best friend. (little boy James)
(a)little boy’s James
(b)little boy, James’
(c)little boy James
(d)little boy, Jame’s

Answer 1

Hint: Each of the given options signifies different meanings, and not all of them are grammatically correct. This means that the option that we are looking for is distinct from the others. Try to look for the correct apostrophe placement.

Complete answer: A noun is a word that names something: either a
person, place, or thing. In a sentence, nouns can play the role of subject, direct object,
indirect object, subject complement, object complement, appositive, or adjective.
The general rule is that the possessive of a singular noun is formed by adding an
apostrophe and s, whether the singular noun ends in s or not. The possessive of a plural
noun is formed by adding only an apostrophe when the noun ends in s, and by adding
both an apostrophe and s when it ends in a letter other than s. In the given sentence, the name ‘James’ ends in s.
Now we know exactly what we are looking for. Let’s look at the given options:
(a)little boy’s James - The phrasing in this option is wrong. This is a grammatically incorrect answer. This does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(b)little boy, James’ - The phrasing in this option is correct and the apostrophe and comma are correctly placed. This is a grammatically correct answer. This fits perfectly into the given sentence. This is the required answer. So, this is the correct option.
(c)little boy James - The phrasing in this option is wrong. This is a grammatically incorrect answer. This does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.
(d)little boy, Jame’s - The phrasing in this option is wrong. This is a grammatically incorrect answer. This does not fit into the given sentence. This is not the required answer. So, this is an incorrect option.

Note: Go through each option and try to decipher its meaning. It should be easy to then choose the most appropriate option accordingly. Identify the grammatically correct and the most contextually sound option.