A Quiz on Its/It"s and Their/There/They"re
What is the difference between its and it's? What are the correct ways to use their, there, and they're? This multiple-choice quiz will help you master these commonly confused words. But first, you may find it helpful to review these two articles:
Instructions:
The 15 short passages in this quiz come from (and are linked to) our Scrapbook of Styles.
For each passage, fill in the blank(s) with the correct word(s) from the list below it. When you're done, compare your answers with those on page two.
Instructions:
The 15 short passages in this quiz come from (and are linked to) our Scrapbook of Styles.
For each passage, fill in the blank(s) with the correct word(s) from the list below it. When you're done, compare your answers with those on page two.
- One afternoon in late August, as the summer's sun streamed into the car and made little jumping shadows on the windows, I sat gazing out at the tenement-dwellers, who were themselves looking out of _____ windows from the gray crumbling buildings along the tracks of upper Manhattan.
(Willie Morris, Willie Morris's Descriptive Narrative)
(a) their
(b) they're
(c) there - From the kitchen ran a narrow dark alley with divisions that made niches for beds and then opened into a small living room at whose end _____ were two windows with views of clouds and chimneys.
(Kate Simon, Family Sketches in Kate Simon's Bronx Primitive)
(a) their
(b) they're
(c) there - [The fighters] wear red shoelaces in white shoes, and peanut-colored gloves, or if _____ Irish _____ in green.
(Edward Hoagland, The Gramercy Gym)
(a) their. . . their
(b) they're . . . they're
(c) there . . . there
- Daylight slants like a razor cutting the buildings in half. In the top half I see distracted looking faces and _____ not easy to tell which are the people, which the work of stonemasons.
(Toni Morrison, Toni Morrison's New York in the 1920s)
(a) it's
(b) its - My neighborhood is located in Greenwich Village, a quarter of the city well known for _____ interesting artistic qualities. These qualities are to be found not only in _____ atmosphere and residents but also in _____ public servants.
(Fran Lebowitz, Fran Lebowitz on the Greenwich Village Postal System)
(a) it's . . . it's . . . it's
(b) its . . . its . . . its - There is a real contest at the Super Bowl, but _____ not on the field--_____ a battle for tickets and hotel rooms and invitations and autographs and access and souvenirs, and it requires both an offensive and a defensive strategy.
(Susan Orlean, Susan Orlean's Extended Metaphor: "Super-Duper")
(a) it's . . . it's
(b) its . . . its - They mean no harm. They placate, interpret, massage. Everywhere _____ smoothing down imperfections, putting hairs in place, putting ducks in a row, replacing divots.
(Jonathan Lethem, Personification in Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn)
(a) their
(b) they're
(c) there - That's when it comes, the urge to shout in the church, the nursery, the crowded movie house. _____ an itch at first. Inconsequential. But that itch is soon a torrent behind a straining dam.
(Jonathan Lethem, Personification in Jonathan Lethem's Motherless Brooklyn)
(a) It's
(b) Its - Scientists are uncertain what starts caribou on _____ northward journey--knowledge that they have stored enough fat to carry them through, perhaps.
(Barry Lopez, Process Analysis in Barry Lopez's "Migration")
(a) their
(b) they're
(c) there - The female was full-grown, and the span of her broad wings was greater than any man's height. _____ was a fine flourish to her motion; she was deceptively, incredibly fast, and her pivots and wheels were wide and full-blown. But her great weight was streamlined and perfectly controlled.
(N. Scott Momaday, Participial Phrases in Momaday's House Made of Dawn)
(a) Their
(b) They're
(c) There - The message is handwritten. The card and _____ envelope are four feet wide.
(John McPhee, Character Sketch by John McPhee)
(a) it's
(b) its - Some customers prefer mulled ale. They keep _____ mugs on the hob until the ale gets as hot as coffee. A sluggish cat named Minnie sleeps in a scuttle beside the stove.
(Joseph Mitchell, Joseph Mitchell's Place Description: McSorley's Saloon)
(a) their
(b) they're
(c) there - On the downtown platform, he pauses. After assembling his clarinet, he left _____ case open at his feet and spread a hand towel across it.
(Mark Singer, Mark Singer's Profile of "Mr. Personality")
(a) it's
(b) its - The door is a barrel on end. _____ is a garden, too; and this is encircled by a ditch at one point, a large stone at another, a bramble at a third. A dog and a cat are inevitable in these habitations; and, apparently, _____ are no dogs and no cats more entirely happy.
(Edgar Allan Poe, Poe's New York in the 1840s)
(a) Their . . . their
(b) They're . . . they're
(c) There . . . there - Sagaponack was now the closest public beach to Sag Harbor, and traffic down its main street increased quickly. Within a few years the old Hildreth store expanded _____ services to accommodate the swelling tide of tourists, and the old village's quiet days were over.
(Peter Matthiessen, Changes, by Peter Matthiessen)
(a) it's
(b) its
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