The … toys have all been stolen.

Analyze the question: The sentence is "The ........... toys have all been stolen." We need the correct form of "child" that shows the toys belong to the children, so this is a question on the possessive form of plural nouns.

Explain the concept:

• Regular plurals end in -s (boys, girls, teachers). Their possessive is formed by adding an apostrophe after the s: boys' books, teachers' room.
• Irregular plurals do not end in -s (children, men, women, people). Their possessive is formed by adding 's: children's toys, men's shoes, women's bags.

Step-by-step solution:

1. The toys belong to the children, so a possessive form is needed. This rules out A (children), which is just the plural and shows no ownership.
2. The plural of "child" is children, which is irregular and does not end in -s.
3. Because it does not end in -s, we add 's, giving children's.
4. Check the other options: • B. childrens is not a word. "Children" is already plural, so we do not add -s without an apostrophe. • C. childrens' is wrong because the apostrophe-after-s rule applies only to plurals already ending in -s. Here the word ends in "n". • D. children's is correct.

Correct sentence: The children's toys have all been stolen.

Answer: D. children's

Exam tip: Ask yourself, "Does the plural already end in -s?"

• If yes (boys), add only an apostrophe: boys'.
• If no (children, men, women), add apostrophe + s: children's, men's, women's.

You can also remember that "childrens" and "childrens'" are never correct. Well done for working through this one, and keep practising!