Question

Excerpt from: The Story of an HourKate ChopinHe had only taken the time (2) to assure himself of it’s truth by a second telegram and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.Read the passage underlined (2). There may be a mistake in punctuation, capitalization, or spelling. If you find a mistake, choose the answer that corrects the mistake. If there is no mistake, choose ‘Correct as is.’A) Correct as is. B) to assure himself of its truth C) to assure hisself of its truth D) to assure himself of its' truth

Answer 1

B) to assure himself of its truth

The options given have you take a closer look at the words it's and himself. Option C changes "himself" to "hisself". "Hisself" is never correct. This means we have to decide if the correct answer is "its" or "it's". "Its", without an apostrophe, is the possessive form showing ownership. "It's", with an apostrophe, is a contraction meaning "it is". Let's plug them into the sentence "of it is truth" does not make any sense. Can "it" own truth? Yes, so "its" is the correct answer.