The Vanderbilt family constructed multiple palatial estates along the Atlantic coast during the late nineteenth century. Architectural historians cons...

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 Vanderbilt family
  • constructed multiple palatial estates
    • along the Atlantic coast
    • during the late nineteenth century.
• Architectural historians
  • consider the preservation of the [?] estates
    • a remarkable achievement
      • in maintaining America's Gilded Age heritage.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start by reading the first sentence to understand the context:

• 'The Vanderbilt family constructed multiple palatial estates'
  • A family - meaning multiple people - built several grand estates

• 'along the Atlantic coast during the late nineteenth century'
  • These estates were built along the coast in the late 1800s

So the first sentence establishes that the Vanderbilt family (multiple family members) built multiple estates.

Now the second sentence:

• 'Architectural historians consider the preservation of the...'
  • This is where we have the blank - we need to fill in how to refer to these estates

Let's look at our choices:

1. Vanderbilt's estates (singular possessive)
2. Vanderbilt estates (no possessive)
3. Vanderbilts' estates (plural possessive)
4. Vanderbilts's estates (non-standard form)

To understand what works here, let's think about what we learned from the first sentence:

• The first sentence told us "The Vanderbilt family" built the estates
  • A family consists of multiple people
  • When we refer to family members collectively, we say "the Vanderbilts" (plural)
  • These estates belong to the Vanderbilts - multiple people

What do we notice?

• We need to show that the estates belong to the Vanderbilts (plural)
• When we show ownership by a plural noun that ends in 's', we add just an apostrophe after the 's'
• The Vanderbilts (plural) → The Vanderbilts' estates (plural possessive)

So we need: C. Vanderbilts' estates

The rest of the sentence completes the thought:

• 'a remarkable achievement in maintaining America's Gilded Age heritage'
  • Historians consider preserving these estates to be a remarkable achievement
  • These estates represent America's Gilded Age - a period of great wealth

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Forming Possessives with Plural Nouns

When you need to show that something belongs to multiple people or things, you need to use the plural possessive form. The rule depends on whether the plural noun ends in 's' or not:

For plural nouns ending in 's': Add only an apostrophe after the 's'

• The Smiths → The Smiths' house
• The students → The students' projects
• The Vanderbilts → The Vanderbilts' estates

For plural nouns NOT ending in 's': Add apostrophe-s

• The children → The children's toys
• The people → The people's choice

In this question:

• "The Vanderbilt family" refers to multiple family members
• When we refer to them as owners, we use the plural form: "the Vanderbilts"
• Since this plural form ends in 's', we add only an apostrophe: "Vanderbilts'"
• Result: "the Vanderbilts' estates" correctly shows the estates belong to the multiple members of the Vanderbilt family

Common mistake to avoid: Don't add apostrophe-s after a plural noun that already ends in 's'. The form "Vanderbilts's" is non-standard. Just add the apostrophe: "Vanderbilts'"