The … were decorated with flowers.

Analyze the question: The sentence needs the correct possessive form. The shoes belong to the girls, so we need an apostrophe to show possession.

Explain the concept: Possessive apostrophes work like this:

• Singular noun: add 's (girl → girl's)
• Plural noun ending in s: add only an apostrophe after the s (girls → girls')
• The thing possessed (shoes) does not take an apostrophe, because it is simply plural, not possessive.

Solution:

1. "The ____ were decorated with flowers." The verb were shows the subject is plural, which fits "shoes."
2. The shoes belong to more than one girl, so the possessor is the plural girls. Its possessive form is girls'.
3. The possessed noun, shoes, stays plain with no apostrophe.

Checking each option:

• A. girls shoes: no possessive marker, so it is wrong.
• B. girls' shoes: correct possessive plural + plain plural noun.
• C. girls' shoes': the extra apostrophe on shoes is wrong.
• D. girls shoes': the apostrophe is on the wrong word.

Answer: The sentence reads: "The girls' shoes were decorated with flowers.

Tip: Ask yourself, "Who owns it?" Write the owner first, then place the apostrophe: if the owner is plural and ends in s, the apostrophe goes after the s. Never put an apostrophe on the thing owned unless it also owns something.