Grammar choices quiz
Pairs where the right choice depends on how the sentence is built. 20 questions with answers.
1. The bird built nest under the bridge.
Answer: its. The nest belongs to the bird, so the possessive its fits. See the full explanation.
2. I think time to leave for the airport.
Answer: it's. You can say 'it is time,' so the contraction it's fits. See the full explanation.
3. Do you know left this umbrella by the door?
Answer: who. The word is the subject of left (he left it), so use who. See the full explanation.
4. The coach, with I trained for years, is retiring.
Answer: whom. It follows the preposition with and is an object (with him), so use whom. See the full explanation.
5. The jacket I wore yesterday needs to be washed.
Answer: that. The clause tells which jacket you mean, and there are no commas, so use that. See the full explanation.
6. My grandmother's recipe, uses fresh ginger, won first prize.
Answer: which. The clause adds extra information between commas, so use which. See the full explanation.
7. Please the baby gently in the crib.
Answer: lay. You are placing something (the baby), so the verb with an object, lay, fits. See the full explanation.
8. On hot days, our dog likes to in the shade.
Answer: lie. The dog rests by itself with no object, so the verb is lie. See the full explanation.
9. We had problems with the new software than with the old one.
Answer: fewer. Problems can be counted one by one, so fewer fits. See the full explanation.
10. Add salt next time, because the soup was too salty.
Answer: less. Salt is an amount you measure, not count, so less fits. See the full explanation.
11. Omar plays the guitar very .
Answer: well. The word describes how he plays, an action, so the adverb well fits. See the full explanation.
12. This bread tastes with butter and honey.
Answer: good. Tastes is a linking verb here, so the adjective good describes the bread. See the full explanation.
13. A small of children signed up for the chess club.
Answer: number. Children can be counted one by one, so number is correct. See the full explanation.
14. The plant needs only a tiny of water each week.
Answer: amount. Water is measured, not counted one by one, so amount is correct. See the full explanation.
15. Grace the holiday lights along the porch railing.
Answer: hung. The lights are objects, so the past tense is hung. See the full explanation.
16. Old court records say the famous pirate was in 1718.
Answer: hanged. This refers to putting a person to death, the one case where hanged is used. See the full explanation.
17. The narrow path runs two tall fences.
Answer: between. There are exactly two fences, one on each side, so between is correct. See the full explanation.
18. The snacks were shared everyone at the party.
Answer: among. Everyone at the party is a group of more than two, so it is among. See the full explanation.
19. The pelican has for fish three times this morning.
Answer: dived. After has, the usual past participle in careful writing is dived. See the full explanation.
20. A white landed on the fence and began to coo.
Answer: dove. This is the bird, a noun, and the bird is always spelled dove. See the full explanation.
Pick an answer to start.