Question

Which of the following contains an error in apostrophe usage? What did you do with the houseplant's I bought yesterday? It was obvious that there weren't any donuts left from the meeting. It's a good time to reassess our strengths and weaknesses as a company. The janitors' brooms need to be replaced as soon as possible.

Answer 1

An apostrophe is used to signify ownership. To figure out whether or not the apostrophe is used correctly look at these examples:

My mom's dog is adorable. Correct Use of apostrophe
(Who owns the dog? Answer: Mom owns the dog. The apostrophe shows her ownership.)

Dog's are so adorable. Incorrect use of apostrophe. (The dog isn't owning anything or has possession of anything so the use of the apostrophe here is incorrect.)

Answer 2

What did you do with the houseplant's I bought yesterday?

Step-by-step explanation:

Apostrophe is used to show the ownership of the noun, or in other ways, to show the contracted form of the words. So, among the four options given in the question, the sentence that contains an error in its usage of the apostrophe is the first sentence- What did you do with the houseplant's I bought yesterday? The use of the apostrophe in the word 'houseplant's' is wrong as there is no need for any possessive form. The word 'houseplants' in the sentence rather denotes a plural form of the noun houseplant, not the possessive form of the houseplant. The other sentences' use of the apostrophe are correct, for they all denote the possessive or ownership of the noun or the contracted form of the verbs.

It was obvious that there weren't any donuts left from the meeting.

It's a good time to reassess our strengths and weaknesses as a company.

The janitors' brooms need to be replaced as soon as possible.