Eclipse

Quiz

BuzzFeed Staff

BuzzFeed

Like a fill-in-the-blanks exercise, but with added celestial awe.

Can You Correct The Grammar In These 10 Facts About The Solar Eclipse?

For starters, "total eclipse" should be lowercase as it isn't a proper noun. The less than/fewer than conundrum is a tricky one, but in this case the percentage isn't countable, i.e., you couldn't count individual bits of the sun like you could count each of the people lucky enough to be in Hawaii right now.

1\. Honolulu, 27% eclipsed:

"Northeast" is one word and a recognized region, so we cap it. Commas never separate a month and its year, and "July" is always fully spelled out: We don't abbreviate months that lack a specific date in front of them, and we never abbreviate months that are five letters or shorter anyway. Oh, and it's "that" (not "which") because this clause is an essential part of understanding the sentence.

2\. Bangor, Maine, 54% eclipsed:

"Lawsuit" is one word, and "class-action" is a modifier describing it, so we hyphenate it. And it's "regimens," plural — unless all the stars in the lawsuit (yes, OK, it's made up but bear with me) share a single tanning regimen.

3\. Los Angeles, 62% eclipsed:

It's "too" busy because it's an adjective, not a conjunction, and "their" smartphones because it's a possessive usage. "Smartphone," meanwhile, is one word (although we still spell "cell phone" as two).

4\. New York City, 72% eclipsed:

Since "DC" is standing in for a state here it needs a comma before _and_ after. You should lowercase "senators" unless you're referring to a specific senator as a job title before their name. And " [supermajority](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/supermajority)" (remember those?!) is one word.

5\. Washington, DC, 81% eclipsed:

Navy Pier and Lake Michigan are proper nouns, so all words need to be initial-capped (sorry, non-Chicagoans!). "Lakeside" and "rooftop" are both one word, so put your hyphens away, please. And YES WE USE THE SERIAL COMMA GET OVER IT.

6\. Chicago, 87% eclipsed:

Easy bits first: "So-called" needs a hyphen, and "Earth" is initial-capped (as a specific reference to the planet), whereas "sun" and "moon" aren't. Now, pay attention: Atlanta doesn't have a direct object — so it "lies," whereas you would "lay" Atlanta down on a table (which you can't because it's a massive city and this is a BuzzFeed quiz).

7\. Atlanta, 97% eclipsed:

It's Matt Bevin (with an "i"), and the Vatican Observatory is a proper noun and thus initial-capped. And NASA is an acronym, so cap up the whole thing.

8\. Hopkinsville, Kentucky, 100% eclipsed:

In this case, "zoo" should be lowercase as it's not a proper noun. The animals own their behavior, so they need a possessive apostrophe. And it's "Tennessee." If you have trouble remembering that, think of the word "tennis," but with no _i_ and two _s_'s and...you know what, never mind.

9\. Nashville, 100% eclipsed:

"Its" has no apostrophe when it's possessive (see what I did there?), and numbers one through nine should be written out (with a few exceptions) per BuzzFeed style. And finally, a "capitol" is a building where legislators meet, within a "capital," which is a city.

10\. Salem, Oregon, 100% eclipsed:

We'll assume you did this quiz during the eclipse and couldn't see your mouse properly.

In the dark

Partial eclipse

Total eclipse

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Can You Correct The Grammar In These 10 Facts About The Solar Eclipse?

Uh-oh! The solar eclipse arcing across the US has blacked out the ends of these facts (look, just...go with it, OK?). Can you pick the right way to finish them from these lists of options?

Can't get enough language grammar content?! Check out BuzzFeed's new book A World Without "Whom" by Emmy Favilla, BuzzFeed's global copy chief, available for preorder on Amazon.

Can You Correct The Grammar In These 10 Facts About The Solar Eclipse?

Uh-oh! The solar eclipse arcing across the US has blacked out the ends of these facts (look, just...go with it, OK?). Can you pick the right way to finish them from these lists of options?

Can't get enough language grammar content?! Check out BuzzFeed's new book A World Without "Whom" by Emmy Favilla, BuzzFeed's global copy chief, available for preorder on Amazon.

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