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Pedants' corner

How good is your grammar?

(32 Posts)
Greenfinch Fri 10-Nov-17 10:00:54

Have you done the quiz?
I will boastfully say that I got all 16 questions correct. DH got 15 but DS in his forties scored only 7.He is highly intelligent and has a well paid job but it just reflects the era of his education.No formal grammar was taught in his school.He wishes it had been.

Witzend Mon 13-Nov-17 14:23:24

15/16, but then I had done exactly what I used to impress on my kids NOT to do in exams and tests - failed to read a question properly! *
In impatient haste as usual, when asked to pick the Right one, I picked the Wrong one. Or the other way around. An easy one, too. Probably because of so much foreign lingo study I did know what a gerund was.

*Talking of doing what you'd always been on at kids NOT to do, I used to urge mine NOT to leave homework, essays, etc. till the last minute.
So there was much hilarity from dds when I was doing an OU course and had failed to read the deadline info properly. Hence realising in a panic, at about 5 pm, that I only had until midnight to get an essay - for which I had done NOTHING - not just written, but also delivered to N London - and we were in SW London.
Cue dd in the car with me in her pyjamas at 11 something pm, still chortling at mum messing up, while directing me courtesy of the A to Z.
Nowadays it's all submitted online, but dds still laugh about that.

NanKate Mon 13-Nov-17 13:51:09

I too go 100% but must admit I looked up what a gerund was, so I really should have only got 99%.

Having said that my maths is rubbish so perhaps 99% is wrong hmm. Over to you.

grandtanteJE65 Mon 13-Nov-17 13:06:09

Actually, you and annodomini are right. The conditional "should have" in the firstclause should be followed by the past tense "were" in the second clause. To be fussy, as both are main clauses there should be a comma between the clauses or the word "that"

grandtanteJE65 Mon 13-Nov-17 13:01:06

We were supposed to pick the right answer there. I fell into the trap too.

Jalima1108 Sat 11-Nov-17 11:57:58

grin

Rapped over the knuckles with a ruler by GNHQ JackyB!

Wrapped over the knuckles with a ruler
Rapped over the knuckles with a ruler
Rapt over the knuckles with a ruler

JackyB Sat 11-Nov-17 11:47:54

It looks as though I did confuse things with the cat's whiskers. I hadn't realised that green meant "this is the right answer" and red meant "this was your answer but it is wrong" - so double misunderstanding, first the question, then the correction. I shall now put on the dunce's cap and sit in the corner for the rest of the thread.

JackyB Sat 11-Nov-17 11:45:45

Yes, that bothered me, too, Jalima.

"You should have told me you are going to be there" sounds wrong, however it is spelt.

Jalima1108 Sat 11-Nov-17 10:09:33

Did you notice my deliberate mistake?
An extra point if you did
wink

Jalima1108 Sat 11-Nov-17 10:08:55

I thought that too annodomini
Should it have have read
'You should have told me you were going to be there' ?

But perhaps I am wrong.

annodomini Fri 10-Nov-17 23:16:40

I'd be very ashamed if I'd got anything wrong. However, I thought that one question (3, I think) was poorly set and the grammar in the correct solution was questionable.

Jalima1108 Fri 10-Nov-17 22:34:25

15 - but I should learn to read the question then I would have got 16!! blush

MissAdventure Fri 10-Nov-17 21:59:20

I got 13 too. A couple I realised after I'd already pressed the wrong one, 1 or 2 were guesswork blush

Greyduster Fri 10-Nov-17 21:31:11

12 for me, but a couple of ‘kick myself’ mistakes and a couple of ‘haven’t got the foggiest’ answers.

LucyGransnet (GNHQ) Fri 10-Nov-17 15:49:45

grin

Bathsheba Fri 10-Nov-17 14:20:53

Sorry Lucy X post smile

Bathsheba Fri 10-Nov-17 14:20:31

It's not difficult but can someone tell me what is wrong about "The cat's whiskers were askew"?

Nothing wrong with that. The question asked for the wrong one, and the three choices were:

The cats' whiskers....
The cats whiskers....
The cat's whiskers...

So the wrong one was the middle one; the other two are perfectly correct.

LucyGransnet (GNHQ) Fri 10-Nov-17 14:18:53

JackyB - that question was a 'pick the WRONG one' so that could be where you're getting a different answer than expected smile

Anniebach Fri 10-Nov-17 14:10:45

Not even going to try, ?

cornergran Fri 10-Nov-17 14:07:10

16 for me. I always hope I will be forgiven for errors.

JackyB Fri 10-Nov-17 14:06:38

It's not difficult but can someone tell me what is wrong about "The cat's whiskers were askew"?

Mamie Fri 10-Nov-17 13:12:33

I got 16, but have to say it isn't nearly as hard as the current grammar test in schools for eleven-year-olds. Not a fronted adverbial or subjunctive in sight. ?

Nelliemoser Fri 10-Nov-17 12:57:27

I am not the only one not reading the question properly then.
The most important thing is to get your message across to the recipient so that your meaning is clear and unambigous.

A few hiccups with greengrocer's apostrophes might piss off the pedants but do not change the actual message.
Ignore any of mine. There are some of these I have always struggled with .

Nelliemoser Fri 10-Nov-17 12:44:51

12/16. Not proud of that it would have helped if I had read the questions much more carefully.

But I still don't think I could have got them all correct.

gillybob Fri 10-Nov-17 12:09:20

Me too Greenfinch I got 13 so did better than I expected to.

mcem Fri 10-Nov-17 11:55:49

14 but I did know all the correct answers. My problem was not paying attention to the questions. Must learn the difference between right and wrong!!