Grammar quiz in the Grauniad

[Pale Rider]

Lots of claims of high scores, which is surprising given the generally poor spelling and grammar of posters on CycleChat.

It matters in the sense of everyone needs to be using the same rules to be able to communicate.

I've given up reading posts to the forum after being tripped up so many times by basic errors.

Everyone has a computer now, so we are all published authors.

But if you gave me a pencil it would not make me Picasso.

 

[Cubist]

Lots of claims of high scores, which is surprising given the generally poor spelling and grammar of posters on CycleChat.

It matters in the sense of everyone needs to be using the same rules to be able to communicate.

I've given up reading posts to the forum after being tripped up so many times by basic errors.

Everyone has a computer now, so we are all published authors.

But if you gave me a pencil it would not make me Picasso.

You forget there was a "have another go" button perhaps?

 

[Pale Rider]

You forget there was a "have another go" button perhaps?

Reading about gerunds put me off having a go.

I know a gerund is something grammatical, and I might be able to pick the right answer from multiple choice.

But I'd rather not put it to the test.

 

[Cubist]

Reading about gerunds put me off having a go.

I know a gerund is something grammatical, and I might be able to pick the right answer from multiple choice.

But I'd rather not put it to the test.

I was having a sly dig at the "lots of high scores" brigade to be fair!

 

[welsh dragon]

I only got 9 so doh. But do I care? Hell no.

 

[summerdays]

[QUOTE 2981680, member: 9609"]I am always very disheartened by stuff like this, I didn't really do school and didn't learn to read and write until later in life. I do try so hard to write properly and sometimes kid myself that I can. (it's just amazing to be able to join into a forum like this and argue in writing) But when it comes to writing I have eggshell thick confidence and quizzes like this just bolw me clean out of the water.

Was only able to attempt 5 of the questions as I hadn't a clue what they were about, but the 5 I did answer I got all right - so 5/14 for me.

And particularly proud of getting number 10 correct
[/QUOTE]
Well it doesn't show to me that you learnt later in life - well done. When I got 9, I didn't say I knew all the answers .... some were guesses.

 

[Speicher]

9/14 which was actually better than I was expecting, as grammar and spelling have always been one of my weak points.

Well done! I expect they are two of your weak points though.

Does that depend upon the use of "grammar and spelling" as an abstract or collective noun?.

 

[Speicher]

True, but to some people, knowing how language works is in itself entertaining. It's like knowing how to ride a bike and knowing how to fix, build or service one. The latter three are useful but not essential in terms of "getting by", but in the grand scheme of things someone, somewhere needs to know the mechanics of a language. By labelling grammatical structures we can see how languages compare with others, how they evolve, how they are used. To a linguist that is every bit as crucial as knowing the way to solve quadratic equations is to a mathematician.

Plus one, as they say!

14/14

 

[MontyVeda]

Isn't it a bit like telling Wiggo he is a crap cyclist just because he cannot name all the components on his bike?

As long as you can use grammar correctly (which I lay no claim to) then you do not need to know what a gerund is.

That's the one I had to 'ip-dip' on.

Glad it didn't ask me what adverbs and pro-nouns were... otherwise I'd have scored way less than 10.