Three architects collaborated on the new public library, each contributing specialized expertise in sustainability, acoustics, and accessibility. They...

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

Sentence 1:

• Three architects collaborated on the new public library, each contributing specialized expertise in sustainability, acoustics, and accessibility.

Sentence 2:

• They met biweekly
  • to review blueprints
  • and modify them
    • according to the [?]
• This partnership resulted in a building
  • that successfully balanced contemporary design
    • with community needs.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading:

The passage tells us:

• Three architects collaborated on the new public library
  • So we have THREE architects working together as a team
• each contributing specialized expertise in sustainability, acoustics, and accessibility
  • Each of the three brought different areas of knowledge
  • One focused on sustainability
  • Another on acoustics
  • The third on accessibility

Now the second sentence continues:

• They met biweekly to review blueprints and modify them according to the ____

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

• A. architect's recommendations (singular possessive)
• B. architects recommendation's (no possessive on architect, incorrect apostrophe on recommendation)
• C. architect's recommendation's (singular possessive, incorrect apostrophe on recommendation)
• D. architects' recommendations (plural possessive)

Now here's what we need to figure out:

• Who is giving recommendations?
  • The architects
• How many architects?
  • Three - the passage explicitly states "Three architects collaborated"
• So what form do we need?
  • We need to show that the recommendations belong to the architects
  • Since there are three architects (plural), we need the PLURAL POSSESSIVE form
  • For plural possessives, we put the apostrophe AFTER the s: architects'
• What about "recommendation" vs "recommendations"?
  • The word "recommendations" is what the architects possess
  • It doesn't need an apostrophe - only the possessor gets the apostrophe
  • Since we have three architects with different areas of expertise meeting regularly, "recommendations" (plural) makes logical sense

So we need: architects' recommendations

The correct answer is D.

Let's read the rest to see the complete picture:

• "This partnership resulted in a building that successfully balanced contemporary design with community needs."
  • This confirms they worked together as a collaborative team
  • The building's success came from their combined partnership

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Forming Plural Possessives with Apostrophes

When you need to show that something belongs to multiple people or things, you use the plural possessive form. Here's how it works:

For regular plurals (ending in -s):

• Add an apostrophe AFTER the existing 's'
• The architects' plans (multiple architects own the plans)
• The students' desks (multiple students own the desks)
• The dogs' collars (multiple dogs own the collars)

Contrast with singular possessives:

• Singular: The architect's plan (one architect owns the plan)
• Plural: The architects' plans (multiple architects own the plans)

Important: The thing being possessed doesn't get an apostrophe

• Correct: the architects' recommendations
• Incorrect: the architects' recommendation's
• The word "recommendations" is what they possess - it's just a regular plural noun, so no apostrophe

In our question:

• We have "Three architects" (plural)
• They give recommendations (the recommendations belong to them)
• So we need: architects' (plural possessive) recommendations (regular plural)
• This becomes: architects' recommendations

The key is recognizing: (1) we need to show possession, (2) the possessors are plural (three architects), and (3) only the possessor gets the apostrophe, not the thing being possessed.