The quarterly report must document four _____ performance: revenue growth, customer retention, market share, and profit margin. These indicators deter...

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

• The quarterly report
  • must document
    • four [metrics/metric's] that assess [the company's/the companies'/the company] performance:
      • revenue growth,
      • customer retention,
      • market share,
      • and profit margin.
• These indicators
  • determine
    • its stakeholder confidence.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start from the beginning:

The quarterly report must document four _____

This is where we have the blank. Let's look at the choices:

• Choice A: metrics that assess the company's
• Choice B: metric's that assess the company's
• Choice C: metrics that assess the companies'
• Choice D: metrics that assess the company

The choices vary in two ways:

• "metrics" vs. "metric's"
• How we refer to the company at the end

To see what works here, let's read the full sentence and understand what it's saying!

The complete first sentence tells us:

• The report must document four _____ performance:
  • revenue growth
  • customer retention
  • market share
  • profit margin

So we're listing four business measurements.

The second sentence adds: "These indicators determine its stakeholder confidence."

• "These indicators" refers back to the four measurements
• "Its" is singular - telling us we're talking about one company

Now let's understand what we need:

First decision - "metrics" or "metric's"?

• The sentence says "four _____"
• After a number, we need a plural noun
• "metrics" = plural (more than one metric)
• "metric's" = possessive (showing ownership by one metric)
• You can't say "four metric's" - that doesn't make grammatical sense
• We need: metrics (plural)

Second decision - "company's" vs. "companies'" vs. "company"?

• The phrase is "metrics that assess _____ performance"
• We're measuring the performance OF the company
• This means we need a possessive form to show whose performance it is
• The second sentence uses "its" (singular), confirming one company
• "the company's performance" = the performance belonging to the company
• We need: the company's (singular possessive)

What do we notice about the structure?

• "Four metrics" is our plural noun phrase
• "that assess the company's performance" is a modifier telling us what these metrics do
• The possessive "company's" shows the relationship - it's the company's performance being assessed, not just the company itself

The correct answer is A: metrics that assess the company's

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Plural Nouns vs. Possessive Apostrophes

Understanding when to use a plural noun versus a possessive form is crucial:

Plural Nouns (no apostrophe):

• Use when you have more than one of something
• Example: "The company tracks four metrics" (plural - four separate measurements)
• After numbers, always use plural nouns

Possessive with Apostrophe-s:

• Use to show ownership or relationship between a noun and what belongs to it
• Example: "The company's performance improved" (the performance belonging to the company)
• This is called a possessive noun in grammar terms

In this question:

• "Four metrics" = plural noun (we have four separate measurements)
• "The company's performance" = possessive (the performance that belongs to/relates to the company)
• Both forms are needed in the same phrase: "four metrics that assess the company's performance"

Key principle:

• Use plurals when counting or listing multiple items: metrics, companies, reports
• Use possessives when showing a relationship: the company's metrics, the report's findings