Troublesome Words

Which of the following two words are homophones?

• Angry and mad

• Flour and flower

• Polish (as in "from Poland") and polish (as in "shoe polish")

• Dog and log

From the information discussed, what can you infer about contractions?

• They are rarely used in conversation

• They always indicate that someone owns something

• They always sound the same as several other words

• They always shorten two or more words into one word

Which of the following is a possessive adjective, like "their?"

• His

• It's

• Here

• We're

Which of the following sentences is correct?

• Don't go over they're.

• They're dog barks all the time.

• They're planning a vacation.

• I'm going over to they're house

Which of the following sentences is correct?

• Their house is pretty big.

• Their coming over for dinner next week.

• Their not at home right now.

• They're much nicer than the family that used to live their.

You'd use "their" when you're indicating that:

• A. A group of people can't be separated

• B. A group of people are speaking

• C. A group of people are located someplace

• D. A group of people own something

Which of the following words is an adverb?

• This

• Here

• Was

• You're

Which sentence is correct?

• There parrot knows how to talk.

• The parrot's cage is over there.

• There buying a new parrot next week.

• I've never seen a parrot quite like there's.

Which of the following uses "there" as an exclamation?

• I don't want to apply to Yale. I'll never get in there!

• There he is -- the best ballplayer in the world!

• Why on earth would I want to go there?

• There! I'm finished with the test.

Which of the following sentences is correct?

• Their eating they're dinner over there.

• There eating their dinner over their.

• They're eating their dinner over there.

• They're eating there dinner over their.