Grammar and punctuation quiz

[Andrew_Culture]

I'm a sub. I got 13/14. I found it all too easy, hence got complacent and allowed myself to be caught out by "pride". Annoying.

Subs are my only heroes!

 

[The Jogger]

I suppose as I expected I got the lowest but I don't care 4/14

 

[Aperitif]

11 - but I had no idea what a lot of the questioning is about. As swee'pea says, the reading and writing (whatever&forever) bit is important. (And Frank Johnson has got a lot to answer for in my case...).
Good luck to today's students. I never took much notice of anything other than a 2B pencil, cricket bat and rugby ball at school.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I never took much notice of anything other than a 2B pencil, cricket bat and rugby ball at school.

Cricket bat and rugby ball, strange game!

 

[EltonFrog]

8/14 for me too. A bit embarrassing really, I didn't even understand some of the questions so I just guessed. What the flippity heck is "Identify which of the following nouns are abstract and/or collective" supposed to mean?

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Yes, I learned that distinction a couple of years ago at a Latin class.
The Italian gerund is something different, ie: (while) I was playing football (... )

I'm pleased you get it Pat. The "ing" bit I get but the rest of the words in that Wikipedia quote go straight over my head. I think I've seen all the words it's just the way they've been put together I'm having trouble with.

 

[swee'pea99]

8/14 for me too. A bit embarrassing really, I didn't even understand some of the questions so I just guessed. What the flippity heck is "Identify which of the following nouns are abstract and/or collective" supposed to mean?

Abstract noun: peace. (It 'exists' but you can't kick the tyres.)
Collective noun: Team. (There's only one of it, but it consists of many members.)
Abstract and/or collective: Pride (Like 'peace', above; but can also be used to refer to a number of lions.)

 

[Minotier]

12 (with a little help from google ). That stuff is for 11 year olds? Surely not! I don't remember doing anything as complicated as that, and I did SCE Higher level English (somewhere between GCE O and A level). Then again, it was 35 years ago, so none of that stuff had been invented.

No it's not for 11 year olds, it says it is for students, teachers and grammar fans!
I got a B at A level in both English Language and English Literature and I only got 6/14!
My wife who has a First in English Literature only scored 10/14.
If they expected this kind of level of grammar knowledge in state school pupils they would have to spend money to ensure a good return. I somehow cannot see that happening.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I'm a sub. I got 13/14. I found it all too easy, hence got complacent and allowed myself to be caught out by "pride". Annoying.

The only reason I got that one right was because I'd already seen it mentioned on this thread.

I'm surprised that this formal approach to a first language is used in schools. In most cases, it's only useful for learning a second (or third in Pat's case) language.

EDIT: Oops, hadn't seen Minotier's post.

 

[Minotier]

Just thought isn't it a bit tongue in cheek for the Guardian to print a grammar quiz?

 

[yello]

I believe the teaching of grammar (to the level questioned in the quiz) used to happen at state schools but got phased out at some stage in the past (maybe as far back as the 60s). I don't know about the UK but in NZ we got taught that nouns were 'naming words', verbs were 'doing words' and adjectives were 'describing words', then maybe a bit about adverbs and prepositions, but nothing more. I think the argument was (and I can see it) that you don't need to know this sort of stuff to learn and be creative with the language.

Being at university was an eye opener for me as it was noticeable that the foreign students were clearly more knowledgeable on the subject of grammar than the UK educated ones.

 

[rich p]

I suppose as I expected I got the lowest but I don't care 4/14

I know I met you only once, Roy, but I knew straightaway you were a dimshit.

 

[rich p]

The only gerund I remember being taught in school, as an example, was "I need my hair cutting".

 

[Brandane]

No it's not for 11 year olds, it says it is for students, teachers and Grammar fans!

Ahhh; I mis-read the article when I saw this bit:

In June, year 6 pupils will sit a National Test in spelling, grammar and punctuation.

I made the same mistake as the OP and thought these were example questions - but they're not. Now I don't feel so bad!

 

[EltonFrog]

Abstract noun: peace. (It 'exists' but you can't kick the tyres.)
Collective noun: Team. (There's only one of it, but it consists of many members.)
Abstract and/or collective: Pride (Like 'peace', above; but can also be used to refer to a number of lions.)

Thank you for that, ironically its one of the questions I got correct, but it was a guess.