About This Quiz
Grammar can confuse a lot of people, partly because it is often horribly taught or even mis-taught. One element that is especially badly taught is the apostrophe, that little comma in the sky that insists on showing up before and after the letter S and in all sorts of other places you didn't particularly want or expect it, bamboozling the innocent writer and often thwarting our ability to communicate clearly. Indeed, the apostrophe is so bewildering to many people that it is probably second only to the semicolon as the most misused punctuation mark.
The two most confusing apostrophe-related mistakes center on two areas: use of the word "it", and use of there, they're and their. We're going to see how well you can do on the latter - but we'll help you out first by reviewing the former. If you mean to say "it is," as in "it is mine," you say "it's." The apostrophe replaces the "i" in "is." If you mean to say "it belongs," as in "its shape is square," then you don't need an apostrophe at all! There is no version where the apostrophe goes after the S.
Now we've cleared that one up, let's move onto the old chestnut of there, they're and their. If you do well, tell your friends on Facebook! If you do badly, perhaps you can tell one friend and appeal to their sympathy, as then they're sure to say, "There, there."
Whose feet? Their feet! This is the possessive.
This refers to a place. It's like "here," but with an extra T.
Who's going to the party? They are! Hence, "They're going to a party."
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Whose father? Their father!
They are very nice people, you know!
It's a place, so it's "there".
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Whose meat? Their meat! They like it well done, which is some may say is a bad call - but at least they can spell it.
This isn't a physical place, but it's still a "there."
Who is opening? They are opening!
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They are giving a gift to the world. So it's their gift.
Here we see "there" in the sense of "voila" or "there you go." It's a slightly different use but still valid.
Who is in possession of stolen goods? They are!
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Location and then possessive makes this, "There I was in their bathroom." You'll notice this quiz just got harder... and it's going to get harder again in a minute!
There's no other mysterious spelling of "there" out there: we just threw in the any/none options to see if you would be deceived!
Who is going to get just desserts? They are. Whose desserts are they? Theirs. Hence, "They're going to get their just desserts."
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By going to that place or idea, or "there," they are (they're) making a big mistake. Hence, "By going there, they're making a big mistake."
The sister belongs to them and the location is under discussion. Hence, "Why isn't their sister going there for Christmas?"
The beds belong to them, hence their beds. They are the ones making the beds, hence they're making. "They're making their beds right now."
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They are the ones who are bright (or not), and the opinion belongs to them. Hence, "They're not very bright, so don't trust their opinion."
They are the ones being successful and the investors belong to them, hence, "If they're successful, their investors will be rich."
The minds belong to them, and they're the ones who are moving. Hence, "Their minds are made up; they're moving to California."
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The preference and the designer both belong to them, so it's the same each time: their. "Their preferred option is to use their in-house designer."
They are the ones building the house, and it is located there. Hence, "They're building a new house there."
The house belongs to them, and they are the ones who are grounded. Hence, "If they're grounded, they'll be at their house."
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Who's over where? They are over there. Hence, "They're over there."
That's right, all three are the same here. They are kind, they are calm, and they are the sort of people you want around in a crisis. Hence, "They're kind, they're calm, and they're the sort of people you want around in a crisis."
They are the ones building, the house belongs to them and we know it's down there. So, "They're building their new house down there."
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At that place (there), they know they are (they're) seen as more than the sum of parts that belong to them (their). That gives us, "There, they know they're seen as more than the sum of their parts."
Yep, it's all the same again! We're talking about one place, which is always "there," which means we get, "If you go there, you could get stuck there, and it sucks there."
They are the ones who are not interested (they're), these friends belong to them (their), and there is a place under discussion (there). Hence, "They're mostly not interested, but some of their friends might want to go there."
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The looks, the poise, and the elegance all belong to them. Hence, the possessive "their" shows up three times, to give us, "I admired their looks, their poise, and their elegance."
They are (they're) the ones who are a certain type of selves. The best selves belong to them (their). They are under pressure. Hence, "They're definitely their best selves when they're under pressure."
They are the ones counting, and the chickens belong to them. That gets us, "They're counting their chickens." However we then consider who is hatching, and of course the answer is that the chickens are doing that. So we get another "they're," but referring to the chickens, for a resulting sentence that goes, ""They're counting their chickens before they're hatched."
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"Is there any 'there' there?" is a common way of asking whether there is any substance to the matter at hand. It comes from the idea of investigating, as in ,"There's nothing there," or "There you go, there's something." If there is in fact something there, that can be referred to as "there" in this context. Hence, "Is there anything there" becomes colloquially turned into, "Is there any 'there' there?"
Saying "there, there" is a slightly archaic way of showing sympathy. When someone is upset, you might say. "There, there, it'll be better soon." It's a way of saying something rather than just sitting there in silence. So in this case, clearly the only way to make a meaningful sentence is to deploy this particular figure of speech to fill the first two gaps. Then we reach the third gap, where we can see they are (they're) jealous. This gives us, "There, there, they're probably just jealous of you."