There were so many rules learned during elementary school, it's understandable if you don't remember them all. How can you compare the excitement in learning about fire protection, "Stop, Drop and Roll" to the correct usage or "Capitol", "capitol" or "capital" in a sentence? But as an adult, command of the vernacular is an important skill to have. That's why this quiz focuses on those words that can make you hesitate. Is it "affect" or "effect"? Is it "you're" or "your"? This quiz will tune up your terminology so you can better express the brilliance within you. After taking it, you won't be caught up trying to remember whether to use "irregardless" or "regardless" in a conversation. For all intents and purposes, (or is it intensive purposes?) this quiz is a perfect refresher to enhance your linguistic abilities.
However, if you pride yourself on your ability to use vocabulary precisely and correctly, then get ready to breeze through this quiz. After you earn a high score you can ("lay" or "lie") back on the couch and relish the reward of a job well done. But don't be under the ("allusion" or "illusion") that you'll score 100% until you've tried it. Take the quiz now and dazzle us with your dictionary recall. Â
The Empire State Building is taller __________ the Chrysler Building.
"Emigrate" and "immigrate" are very similar in both spelling and meaning. When the focus of the sentence is on the place the person left, it's "emigrate." When the focus is on the place the person ended up, it's "immigrated." It's the "here" right after the verb that puts the focus on where hey wound up in this case.
The capital of New York is Albany — "capital" is for cities (and money matters). "Capitol" always refers to a building, and "Capitol" with a capital C refers to the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.
Don't __________ the rules: __________ __________ for your protection.
flaunt/their/they're
flaunt/they're/there
flaunt/they're/their
flout/they're/there
"Flaunt" means to show off, and "flout" means to break the rules. "Their" is possessive, "they're" means they are and "there" always refers to a place.
When I __________ down in bed last night, I fell right asleep.
lay
But of course it's not always so straightforward. "Lay" is also the past tense of "lie," so it's not totally true that "lay" always needs a direct object. You can also "lay" on a bed (but only in the past).
Lisa said she __________ if Tony went to the party with another girl. They had broken up weeks ago.
could care less
couldn't care less
If you want to get literal about a figure of speech, "couldn't care less" is correct. If you "could care less," you're saying that it is possible you could care even less. But if you couldn't care less, you are officially at rock bottom of caring. Lisa could not possibly care any less about Tony.
