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Welcome to your GrammarBook.com e-newsletter.
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Year-End Quiz
To close out 2015 we have put together a comprehensive pop quiz based on the year’s GrammarBook.com grammar posts. The quiz comprises twenty-five
sentences that may—or may not—need fixing. Think you can fix the ones that need help?
You’ll find our answers directly below the quiz. Each answer includes, for your convenience, the title and date of the article that raised the topic.
This quiz is not for dilettantes. Good luck, and we hope to see you back here after the holidays.
Jumbo Pop Quiz: 2015 in Twenty-five Questions
1. I have an affinity for pizza.
2. People that like a couple drinks before dinner are my idea of good company.
3. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.
4. We dined with people from Chicago, Illinois, Brooklyn, New York, and San Diego, California.
5. There are three different pools on the property.
6. Do you have any future plans you can tell us about?
7. It was a hazel doormouse with golden-brown fur and large black eyes.
8. Fifty dollars are too much to pay for a toaster.
9. The differences between us and them are miniscule, so take your pick.
10. Toby has gotten himself into trouble this time.
11. The dry soil has drank up every last raindrop.
12. The hotel is in close proximity to the corporate, financial, and fashionable heart of the city.
13. In Big Sur the view from our balcony was simply incredulous.
14. Erik was born on June 5, 1975 in Oslo, Norway.
15. Hanging around with fantastic writers rubs off on you after awhile.
16. Choose the more likely sentence:
A) Ruben compared Giorgio’s spaghetti to dog food.
B) Ruben compared Giorgio’s spaghetti with dog food.
17. Here is what I want from the store: Onions, potatoes, and broccoli.
18. The challenge so enervated her that she rushed out and sprinted two miles.
19. These two crooks just wanted to steal each others’ money.
20. Storm clouds creeped unnoticed over the distant mountains.
21. Luckily, the guide found them and lead them to safety.
22. She loved three men equally, so choosing a husband was a difficult dilemma.
23. McCloy knew he’d lied to Anita, but his alibi was, “I didn’t want to hurt her.”
24. The conflict centers around the atrocities of war.
25. I am writing in regards to employment opportunities at your firm.
Jumbo Pop Quiz Answers
An asterisk (*) indicates that there are more correct answers than one.
1. I have a fondness for pizza.* (Words in Flux, 1-13)
2. People that like a couple of drinks before dinner are my idea of good company. (Nice Publication—Until You Read It, 1-27)
3. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. CORRECT (Media Watch, 2-17)
4. We dined with people from Chicago, Illinois; Brooklyn, New York; and San Diego, California. (The Man Who Hated Semicolons, 3-31)
5. There are three pools on the property. (Media Watch, 5-5)
6. Do you have any plans you can tell us about? (A Twenty-first Century Usage Guide, 5-12)
7. It was a hazel dormouse with golden-brown fur and large black eyes. (A Twenty-first Century Usage Guide, 5-12)
8. Fifty dollars is too much to pay for a toaster. (What Kind of Rule Is Usually?, 5-19)
9. The differences between us and them are minuscule, so take your pick. (Spell Check, 5-26)
10. Toby has gotten himself into trouble this time. CORRECT (Misbegotten Views on Gotten, 6-30)
11. The dry soil has drunk up every last raindrop.
(Irregular Verbs Can Be a Regular Pain, 7-7)
12. The hotel is close to the corporate, financial, and fashionable heart of the city.* (Don’t Put It in Writing, 7-14)
13. In Big Sur the view from our balcony was simply incredible. (Grammar, Vocabulary Go Hand in Hand,
7-28)
14. Erik was born on June 5, 1975, in Oslo, Norway. (Media Watch, 8-4)
15. Hanging around with fantastic writers rubs off on you after a while. (Media Watch, 8-4)
16. A) Ruben compared Giorgio’s spaghetti to dog food. (Compare To vs. Compare With, 8-18)
17. Here is what I want from the store: onions, potatoes, and broccoli. (Colons and Capitals, 8-25)
18. The challenge so energized her that she rushed out and sprinted two miles. (You Can Look It Up, 9-15)
19. These two crooks just wanted to steal each other’s money. (Each Other vs. One Another, 9-29)
20. Storm clouds crept unnoticed over the distant mountains. (Why Irregular Verbs Are Strong, 10-6)
21. Luckily, the guide found them and led them to safety. (Why Irregular Verbs Are Strong, 10-6)
22. She loved three men equally, so choosing a husband was a difficult predicament.* (Slipshod Extension, 10-13)
23. McCloy knew he’d lied to Anita, but his excuse was, “I didn’t want to hurt her.”* (Slipshod Extension, 10-13)
24. The conflict centers on the atrocities of war.* (When Idioms Become Monsters, 10-20)
25. I am writing in regard to employment opportunities at your firm. (Give the Gift of Pedantry, 12-1)
Because of the e-newsletter’s large readership, please submit your English usage questions through GrammarBook.com’s “Grammar Blog.” |
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Happy Holidays!
All of us at GrammarBook.com wish all of our readers and their families a happy holiday season. We will take a two-week break before resuming our regular weekly newsletters on January 5, 2016. We sincerely hope you have learned, benefited, and enjoyed the grammar tips this year. We certainly have enjoyed bringing them to you.
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 Wordplay
An English professor wrote the words “A woman without her man is nothing” on the chalkboard and asked his students to
punctuate it correctly.
All of the males in the class wrote:
“A woman, without her man, is nothing.”
All of the females in the class wrote:
“A woman: without her, man is nothing.”
Punctuation is powerful.
Learn all about who and whom, affect and effect, subjects and verbs, adjectives and adverbs, commas, semicolons, quotation marks, and much more by just sitting back and enjoying these easy-to-follow lessons. Tell your colleagues (and boss), children, teachers, and friends. Click here to watch. |
