|
Welcome to your GrammarBook.com e-newsletter.
|
“The free
e-newsletter answers so many of my questions. Other proofreaders look to me to resolve arguments and I rely on you!”
—Cynthia S.
“GrammarBook.com is one of the best! Thank you for giving the gift of knowledge.”
—John E.
“My colleagues think I am the guru of grammar, so it’s nice to have your website for those occasions when I am not quite sure what to tell them.”
—Natalie S.
|
|
|
What Have We Learned This Year?
To close out 2014, we have put together a comprehensive pop quiz based on the year’s GrammarBook.com grammar tips. The quiz comprises twenty-five
sentences that may need fixing. Think you can fix them?
Our answers follow the quiz. Each answer includes, for your convenience, the title and date of the article that raised the topic.
This quiz is by no means a pushover. Good luck, and we hope to see you back here after the holidays.
A Year of Blogs in Twenty-five Questions
1. The day was cold, cloudy, and a storm was coming.
2. He is either coming with us or he is waiting for the next train.
3. My friend (and her brother) are arriving today.
4. Dobbs is one of those people who loves Jane Austen.
5. A collection of books were on display.
6. She ordered him off of her property.
7. I asked him to lend me a couple dollars.
8. Both young actress’s dream is to play Juliet.
9. Roy and Juanita Simms arrived on foot because the Simms’ car was in the shop.
10. We were all in the mood for some New Orleans’ food.
11. When Nick writes a letter, you can’t tell his As from his Ss.
12. Who sang the song Bali Ha’i in the Broadway play called South Pacific?
13. Their favorite classic movies are based off of old fairy tales.
14. The couple was having their first quarrel.
15. A husband, who forgets anniversaries and birthdays, may be headed for divorce court.
16. A friend of mine, living in San Diego, loves the weather there.
17. My grandmother, Gladys, claimed she once had a drink with the writer, Norman Mailer.
18. When you decide to hone in on your weaknesses, you have a hard road to hoe.
19. That fancy place had a $18 dessert on the menu.
20. Some of Hemingway’s best books, i.e., The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms, were written before 1950.
21. The exhibit includes major works by many iconic artists: Ernst, Klee, Picasso, etc.
22. The jeweler has unusual gems such as black opals, star garnets, alexandrites, etc.
23. When they doubled my salary, I literally started living like a king.
24. He suggested a Donne sonnet, but soon learned she was disinterested in poetry.
25. His claim of owning a diamond mine in Delaware begs the question, Is this man sane enough to be walking around?
Because of the e-newsletter’s large readership, please submit your English usage questions through GrammarBook.com’s “Grammar Blog.” |
|
Happy Holidays!
All of us at GrammarBook.com wish all of you, our readers, and your families a very happy holiday season. In observance of the holidays, we will take a two-week break. We will resume our regular weekly newsletters on January 6, 2015. We sincerely hope you have learned, benefited, and enjoyed the grammar tips this year. We certainly have enjoyed bringing them to you.
Free BONUS Quiz for You!
[[firstname]], because you are a subscriber to the newsletter, you get access to one of the Subscription Members-Only Quizzes. Click here to take a Confusing Words and Homonyms Quiz and get your scores and explanations instantly!
Good News for Quiz Subscribers
First, we are excited to inform our instructor-level quiz subscribers of several significant improvements to your subscription at no added cost to you:
- You may opt out of receiving e-mails when students complete quizzes.
- You may now assign multiple quizzes at a time.
- You may now assign a starting date and ending date when quizzes will be available to students.
- You can now download a spreadsheet containing the results of all quizzes taken by each student.
Second, after logging on, all quiz subscribers may now enjoy GrammarBook.com free of advertisements (excluding the Grammar Blog).
“So convenient … hundreds of quizzes in one click.”
[[firstname]], Subscribe to receive hundreds of English usage quizzes not found anywhere else!
- Take the quizzes online or download and copy them.
- Get scored instantly.
- Find explanations for every quiz answer.
- Reproduce the quizzes to your heart’s content.
- EASY to use.
- No software to download.
- No setup time.
- A real person to help you if you have any questions!
“Fun to test my skills!”
“The explanations really help … thanks!”
Your choice: Subscribe at the $29.95 or $99.95 level ($30 off - regularly $129.95).
“I download the quizzes for my students who don’t have computer access.”
Subscribe today to receive hundreds of English usage quizzes not found anywhere else!
“Makes learning English FUN!”
 |
Don’t need all the quizzes at once?
You can now purchase the same quizzes individually for ONLY 99¢ each. Purchase yours here. |
Get Yours Today!
Get Amazon’s No. 1 Best-seller in Four Categories!
No. 1 in Grammar
No. 1 in Reading
No. 1 in Lesson Planning
No. 1 in Vocabulary |
The Blue Book of Grammar
and Punctuation
by Jane Straus, Lester Kaufman, and Tom Stern
The Authority on English Grammar!
Eleventh Edition Now Available
Have You Ordered Your Copy Yet?
An indispensable tool for busy professionals, teachers, students, homeschool families, editors, writers, and proofreaders.
Available in print AND as an e-Book! Over 2,000 copies are purchased every month!
Order Your Copy Today!
- Hundreds of Grammar, Punctuation, Capitalization, and Usage Rules
- Real-World Examples
- Spelling / Vocabulary / Confusing Words
- Quizzes with Answers
The publisher is extending its pre-publication discount offer until December 31, 2014! If you live in the United States or Canada, order the new edition of The Blue Book
through Wiley.com and get 30 percent off and FREE shipping. Simply go to bit.ly/1996hkA and use discount code E9X4AYY.
For those of you who live outside the U.S. and Canada, although the publisher is not able to offer free shipping, you will get 35 percent off to help offset your shipping costs. Simply go to bit.ly/1996hkA and use discount code E9X4A. |
 Wordplay
Police were called to a day care center where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.
A bicycle can't stand alone; it is two tired.
When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
Jumbo Pop Quiz Answers
An asterisk (*) indicates that there are more than one correct answer.
1. The day was cold, cloudy, and stormy.* (An Unparalleled Letdown, 2-18)
2. He is either coming with us or waiting for the next train.* (Simple Words, Fancy Label, 2-25)
3. My friend (and her brother) is arriving today. [(All About) Parentheses, 3-23]
4. Dobbs is one of those people who love Jane Austen. (The Wicked Of, 3-31)
5. A collection of books was on display. (The Wicked Of, 3-31)
6. She ordered him off her property. (More Of, 4-16)
7. I asked him to lend me a couple of dollars. (More Of, 4-16)
8. Both young actresses’ dream is to play Juliet. (Apostrophes: Worth the Trouble, 5-6)
9. Roy and Juanita Simms arrived on foot because the Simmses’ car was in the shop. (Apostrophes and Proper Nouns,
5-13)
10. We were all in the mood for some New Orleans food. (Apostrophes and False Possessives, 5-19)
11. When Nick writes a letter, you can’t tell his A’s from his S’s. (Apostrophes: Not Always Possessive, 6-3)
12. Who sang the song “Bali Ha’i” in the Broadway play called South Pacific?
(Italics vs. Quotation Marks, 6-16)
13. Their favorite classic movies are based on old fairy tales. (Based Off Is Off Base
, 6-23)
14. The couple were having their first quarrel. (Collective Nouns and Consistency, 7-8)
15. A husband who forgets anniversaries and birthdays may be headed for divorce court. (Essential, but Is It Important? 8-19)
16. A friend of mine living in San Diego loves the weather there. (Essential and Nonessential Elements, Part II, 8-26)
17. My grandmother Gladys claimed she once had a drink with the writer Norman Mailer. (Essential and Nonessential Elements, Part III, 9-2)
18. When you decide to home in on your weaknesses, you have a hard row to hoe. (A House Is Not a Hone,
9-23)
19. That fancy place had an $18 dessert on the menu. (Wails from My Inbox, 10-2)
20. Some of Hemingway’s best books (e.g., The Sun Also Rises and A Farewell to Arms) were written
before 1950.* (Note also the added parentheses in the sentence.) (i.e. vs. e.g., 10-7)
21. The exhibit includes major works by many iconic artists: Ernst, Klee, Picasso, et al. (All About etc., 10-15)
22. The jeweler has unusual gems such as black opals, star garnets, and alexandrites. (All About etc., 10-15)
23. When they doubled my salary, I really started living like a king.* (Fighting for Literally,
11-11)
24. He suggested a Donne sonnet, but soon learned she was uninterested in poetry. (Don’t Dis Disinterested, 11-18)
25. His claim of owning a diamond mine in Delaware raises the question, Is this man sane enough to be walking around?* ( Begging the Question, 12-1)
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. |
