How good is your grammar?

[mfcorey1]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/offbeat/quiz-how-good-is-your-grammar/ar-BBqiW6r?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout

[Xipe Totec]

1. I graduated from the Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can't Read Good nt

[alarimer]

2. My grammers are both dead

So, not very good, all things considered.

[GoneFishin]

10. LOL.

[we can do it]

33. mine, too...

[DawgHouse]

3. I think you mean how "well" is your grammar...

[mfcorey1]

5. I would have written, How correct is your grammar? I just copied the post topic from the

website.

[Orrex]

16. :thumbsup:

:chuckle"

[rock]

20. Only if it were sick

[fishwax]

32. man, that's what I was going to post

[PeteSelman]

4. It doesn't work.

Clicking on the answer sends you to another story.

But I am a certified grammar Nazi. I just like the ego boost a perfect score gives me.

[mfcorey1]

6. Try msn.com and scroll through the pictured headlines until you

find it.

[Buzz Clik]

7. 17/17

One guess, and one disagreement with an answer (number of commas).

[mfcorey1]

8. I also disagreed with that one.

[unc70]

12. Me 2, not 3 commas

Any idea where they think that third comma goes? I am usually heavy with them; love the Oxford comma. Like a good semicolon now and then.

(FYI I know about my title.)

[Buzz Clik]

14. The oxford comma. Ah, yes... one of my favorite songs.

[dmr]

21. Oh, he's cute.

Why, if I weren't an old lady ....

[Buzz Clik]

22. Oh, yeah.

Ezra Koenig.

Probably my favorite current band.

[dmr]

25. I'm going to check the band out. I enjoyed that video.

I'm glad you posted it.

[unblock]

15. iirc,

there was one for a date, a place, and an adverbial phrase.

[Buzz Clik]

23. indeed, but...

... the flagship name could have been separated by commas, too.

[Glassunion]

24. I always use the Oxford comma.

It's uncivilized otherwise.

[fishwax]

34. commas before the year, after the year, and between toronto and canada

On edit: after scrolling down, I see that you already answered it

[metroins]

9. 13/17

Disagreed with commas and made a few mistakes early on.

[Bettie]

11. 16/17 with feline assistance

He was playing with my mouse cord.

But, I did catch myself second-guessing, because grammar is one of those things where if I think about it, I'm wrong, but if I do it naturally, it is generally fine.

I disagreed with the comma one.

[unblock]

13. i had more luck getting through this with chrome. internet explorer couldn't handle it, lol

[unc70]

17. Third comma after year in date

After thinking about it, I have found the third comma.

Some style books place a comma after the year when a date is mid-sentence. I think that style is becoming less common

[951-Riverside]

18. Typical liberal snobs always thinking there better then every body else

u dont need no good grammer when we the people got a gun a pocket constitution and are witts bout us.

[morningfog]

19. All three sentences in Number 6 could be correct.

Which of the following is not correct?

I was sitting in the chair.
I sat in the chair.
I was sat in the chair.

I got it right because I understood what they meant. However, "I was sat in the chair" could mean someone sat me in the chair, like in timeout.

[valerief]

27. But that would be "I was seated in the chair." nt

[morningfog]

28. In that case, I'm glad I didn't miss it!

I remember being sat in a chair in my ignorant youth.

[valerief]

29. Maybe it's a regional difference. I was seated. I don't know what's correct. I just know "I was

seated" sounds correct to me.

[RKP5637]

26. Not bad! (OK for DU, lol!) n/t

[Nye Bevan]

30. Me and my wife both did real good on it (nt)

[Liberal Veteran]

31. I done gooder then y'all I bets. -nt

[Orsino]

35. The goodest.

I have the bestest words.

[SalviaBlue]

36. I was sat in the chair?!?

That phrase was marked as proper.

Thems gramer are bad.

[fishwax]

37. I disagree with the may/might answer (and to a lesser degree, with the neither answer)

The watch ____ be very expensive, but it's much better than the others.

There are a few different ways of distinguishing may and might. One of the key distinctions is that may is a more distinct possibility, while might is a more remote possibility. I may buy a lottery ticket on the off chance that I might win the lottery. This doesn't seem to directly apply to the example. Another distinction has to do with tense--in some usages, might indicates past tense, which also doesn't seem to apply.

In some contexts, the usage may depend on whether the condition is hypothetical, and that's what I think we have here.

If you say "The watch may be very expensive, but it's much better than the others" (which is what the quiz suggests is the right answer), then you likely mean "the watch is very expensive, but it's also much better than the others." So you know the watch is expensive.

But it is also possible to use might in this sentence, in which you are saying "I don't know whether the watch is very expensive, but I do know that it's much better than the others. So I think either answer is okay.

As to "neither" as a pronoun: a singular verb is more formal, but a plural isn't necessarily incorrect, and there are cases in which notional agreement (that is to say, agreement with what the noun actually means) suggest the plural may make more sense (or that there might be subtle distinctions of meaning between the two).

[malaise]

39. Agree

16/17

[libodem]

38. 15/17

88%...Stupid adverbs.