Expressions with BY Quiz

You can do this quiz online or print it on paper. It tests comprehension of common English expressions that include the word BY.

For each question, read the sentence and choose the answer with the closest meaning to the words in italics.

1. Michael fixed up the old house by himself.

without help from anyone
while living there alone
with his own money
a) without help from anyone b) while living there alone c) with his own money

2. The Pacific Ocean is the world's biggest ocean by far. It's

far from other oceans
a little bigger than other oceans
much bigger than other oceans
a) far from other oceans b) a little bigger than other oceans c) much bigger than other oceans

3. If you want to smoke while you're here, that's fine by me.

it's good for me
I'm OK with that
I should be fine
a) that's perfect for me b) I'm OK with that c) I should be fine

4. Those classic old motorbikes are hard to come by these days.

difficult to find
easy to find
impossible to find
a) difficult to find b) easy to find c) impossible to find

5. My father pays all his taxes. He does things by the book.

by bending the rules
by following his own rules
by following official rules
a) by bending the rules b) by following his own rules c) by following official rules

6. The file was deleted by mistake.

accidentally
in the wrong way
because it was incorrect
a) accidentally b) in the wrong way c) because it was incorrect

7. This kid ran across the road right in front of our car. We missed her by a whisker.

by swerving just in time
by a very small amount
by the length of a cat's whisker
a) by swerving just in time b) by a very small amount c) by the length of a cat's whisker

8. Sales were slow at first, but little by little they began to improve.

by charging very little
suddenly
very gradually
a) by charging very little b) suddenly c) very gradually

9. We only just won the match, so it was by no means a convincing victory.

definitely not
most definitely
not quite
a) definitely not b) most definitely c) not quite

10. Grandma has been living by herself for a long time.

without help
on her own
on her own money
a) without help b) on her own c) on her own money

Your score is:

Correct answers:

Contributor: Matt Errey. Matt is the author of several books including 1000 Phrasal Verbs in Context and Common English Idioms for learners, and Matt's ESL Games and Quizzes for teachers.