The Guardian's grammar test

Yves Geza said:
Er ... "fare"!

It's only fair to correct you in your own grammar thread! :p
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You are completely correct, but I do feel we get too hung up over spelling. Shakespeare spelt words in differently even in the same document. He even spelt his own name differently. As long as the meaning is clear the why worry.

If you're thinking that's just because I have trouble with spelling, it's not.
 
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wills said:
I got the last two wrong, never heard of a gerund!
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And you don't need to know what one is in order to use one correctly.

For a lot of that test you need to know what something is called rather than how to use it. This makes it more of a memory test than a grammar test.


Steve.
 
tiler65 said:
Me too.

I suppose we have to evolve at some point and undoubtedly some text speak will break into the norm for English, let that be a while though please!
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my 14 year old daughter actually reprimanded my wife the other day saying it was embarrassing that mum sends text messages to daughter using text speak. Daughter reckons it's really chavvy and no-one does that anymore. I suppose with smartphones now, they have use of the full keyboard and predictive text, so it's probably quicker to actually type the proper words. Of course good old 'lol' will never die.
 
I got 11, but two of my answers were guesses.
First time I tried it I clicked on Submit and got thrown out of the webpage.
 
PatrickO said:
You are completely correct, but I do feel we get too hung up over spelling.
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Incorrect spelling can often be "got away with", but sometimes the spelling mistake is still a valid word, just one with a completely different meaning that changes the meaning of the sentence, or even renders it nonsense.

For that reason I feel it is better to strive to always be accurate.
 
onomatopoeia said:
Incorrect spelling can often be "got away with", but sometimes the spelling mistake is still a valid word, just one with a completely different meaning that changes the meaning of the sentence, or even renders it nonsense.

For that reason I feel it is better to strive to always be accurate.
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Have you not missed any commas out of your last line?
 
Steve Smith said:
Spelled!


Steve.
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:shake:

This one always comes up in threads of this nature, and someone always posts something along those lines; however the Oxford English Dictionary definition of spelt is: past and past participle of spell

So both spelt and spelled are perfectly acceptable.
 
PatrickO said:
You are completely correct, but I do feel we get too hung up over spelling.
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S'not spelling; it's the wrong bleedin' homophone! Da rong wurd! :D



Incidentally, for those still in any doubt, N. Molesworth, Esq can illustrate how a gerund cuts a gerundive, as any fule kno!
 
new2me said:
I got 9, so only six wrong. Is there a maths test? I'm sure i'll ace that.
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11 out of 14 for me, but did I miss a question, or just a deeper understanding of the workings of new2me's mind?
 
14.

Grammar school education 50 years ago before successive governments completely ruined our educational system.
 
11 out of 14, wouldn't know a gerund if it came up and shook my hand.

Mind you, should have remembered about a hoard o' lions though:LOL:
 
12 and I can't get at the answers to see where I "gentleman's sausage"d up!
 
tiler65 said:
Aren't both versions correct? I thought that this was one of the words that has evolved so both are accepted?
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you missed the point.

Patrick was saying how he felt people were too hung up over spelling.

Only to then have someone pull him up on something in the next post.
 
8, had to guess them all though. It won't be long before I'm scratching my head when my daughter asks for help with her homework.
 
2 out of 14, but i didn't even attempt the ones i had no idea about (no point in having complete guesses, it would have given me a false score), never even heard of half the things in that test, looks like i went to the wrong school
 
joescrivens said:
you missed the point.

Patrick was saying how he felt people were too hung up over spelling.

Only to then have someone pull him up on something in the next post.
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I haven't missed the point at all, I was asking you a question. Or two, to be precise.
 
neil_g said:
6.

i have no idea what some of those mean let alone which of the answers were correct. not sure why i even need to know some of those..
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It has helped you distinguish a bite from a byte so it must serve a purpose.
 
tiler65 said:
It has helped you distinguish a bite from a byte so it must serve a purpose.
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Which one of those questions helps to distinguish them apart, i can tell them apart due to the spelling or the context when spoken ;)
 
rpsmith79 said:
Which one of those questions helps to distinguish them apart, i can tell them apart due to the spelling or the context when spoken ;)
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The point being, we need to learn about spelling and grammar and punctuation so we can tell them apart.
 
"Gerrunds" are found in fairgrounds. Often described as "merry" due to the joy they bring.

I didn't do the test because it's crap. :)
 
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Yv said:
11/14 - not bad considering I had to use an educated guess to work out what exactly they were asking for. I have never heard of 'gerrund' :shrug:
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It's "gerund"! I only new what it was because of my Spanish studies, it's "gerundio" in español.
 
Isn't he a poofballer? Stephen Gerrund?
 
Yv said:
I have never heard of 'gerrund' :shrug:
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In which case, if you had been on the jury, you would probably not have let him off that ABH charge! :D



ETA, while I was typing, Nod states the bleedin' obvious ... !
 
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tiler65 said:
The point being, we need to learn about spelling and grammar and punctuation so we can tell them apart.
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But i only got 2 out of 14, and i didn't understand the majority, but i still know the difference

It's like me, i'm an engineer and i use equations to work things out (geometry, forces etc), i was once taught where they came from and who created/formulated these equations, but now i have no idea and no interest in who/what/where/when they were created, all i need to know is how and when to apply them to a particular problem

So all this test does is to tell you how good your memory of school English lessons were :)
 
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rpsmith79 said:
But i only got 2 out of 14, and i didn't understand the majority, but i still know the difference

It's like me, i'm an engineer and i use equations to work things out (geometry, forces etc), i was once taught where they came from and who created these equations (at university), but now i have no idea and no interest in who/what/where/when they were created, all i need to know is how and when to apply them to a particular problem

So all this test does is to tell you how good your memory of school English lessons were :)
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But if you would have known the difference with the questions asked on the test, you would have got more correct.

Just like your engineering. The test is not to ask when they were created, or by who/whom (?) it is there to test you on the correct use of spelling, grammar and punctuation so you can deliver the correct results.
 
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