In the same passage, choose the correct possessive form to complete the phrase "but the hidden crannies of ________ own memory and the strange landscape of emotions that lies beyond".

Difficulty: Easy

Correct Answer: your

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
This cloze item tests understanding of possessive pronouns in English. The sentence speaks directly to the reader and says that the photo album allows you to revisit not just outer events but also the hidden crannies of blank own memory. Because the subject addressed is you, we must select the correct possessive form that connects you with own memory. This is a straightforward, but important, grammar point.


Given Data / Assumptions:
- The phrase to complete is the hidden crannies of blank own memory. - The options are your, you, yourself, and yourselves. - The context is second person address, as the passage uses you earlier. - The structure own memory requires a possessive determiner before own.


Concept / Approach:
In English, possessive determiners like my, your, his, her, our, and their come before nouns to show ownership or association. When own is added, as in your own memory, it emphasises that the memory belongs personally to the person addressed. You is a subject or object pronoun, yourself and yourselves are reflexive pronouns. None of these, except your, can function correctly before own memory in this position. Therefore, the correct word must be your.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Insert your: the hidden crannies of your own memory. This sounds natural and grammatically correct. Step 2: Insert you: the hidden crannies of you own memory. This is ungrammatical because you cannot directly modify a noun in this way. Step 3: Insert yourself: the hidden crannies of yourself own memory. This is clearly incorrect, as reflexive pronouns do not precede own in this structure. Step 4: Insert yourselves: the hidden crannies of yourselves own memory. This is also incorrect and awkward. Step 5: Recognise that own usually comes after a possessive determiner, as in my own, your own, or our own. Step 6: Conclude that your is the only grammatically acceptable choice.


Verification / Alternative check:
We can check by listing typical patterns: my own decision, your own story, her own house, their own ideas. In each case, a possessive determiner precedes own. Replacing my or your with you or yourself would make these phrases ungrammatical. Returning to the passage, the writer is clearly speaking to the reader and wants to emphasise that the memories belong personally to you. Thus, the phrase your own memory is both idiomatic and accurate.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B, you, is wrong because it is a pronoun used as subject or object, not as a determiner before a noun. Option C, yourself, is wrong because reflexive pronouns usually follow a verb or preposition, as in you can do it yourself, not before own memory. Option D, yourselves, is wrong for the same reason and is also plural, while the passage addresses the reader in a general singular sense.


Common Pitfalls:
Learners sometimes confuse possessive determiners with pronouns that look similar, such as your and you or their and they. A quick test is to see whether the word stands alone or comes before a noun. If it must come before a noun, a possessive determiner is needed. In phrases with own, this rule is even stronger, since own nearly always follows my, your, his, her, our, or their. Keeping this pattern in mind makes such cloze questions straightforward to solve.


Final Answer:
The correct answer is your.

More Questions from English

Discussion & Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment!
Join Discussion