10 questions on grammar
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22512744

Can you punctuate better than the average child?

:idc:

I got 9/10.

7/10

:thumbs:

Was "gerund" a problem ..... :suspect:

I got the first 3 wrong so I gave up. This is for British English anyway so it's probably racist against Americans.

British English = Proper English ..... :pipe:

6/10
better than the thought lawl

6/10. But the point is that such tests on grammar are ridiculous anyway. As I was doing that quiz, those sentences which were wrong were perfectly understandable anyway. Linguistic change and the context of new generations in relation to grammar is that which causes these discrepancies. No-one is wrong, only different.

The sibling one was ****ing ridiculous, and would never ever be said by anyone. :idc:

I got 8 correct, missing that and the last one.

2/10

0-3: Colon confusenik

So why is texting banned on this forum ..... :conf:

Surely, it's only linguistic change in the context of a new generation being different, causing discrepancies ..... :shrug:

I got 8/10 although I will admit a couple of those were lucky guesses :laugh:

3/10 oops

Using grammar in a non-standard way is different to the use of text speak (a dialect that developed out of convenience due to technological constraints). Just because someone uses a semi-colon in the wrong place, or splits an infinitive doesn't mean that the standard of grammar is getting worse.

It suggests to me that maybe the rules are becoming more archaic and are simply on the way out. I think we should be worrying more about the testing obsession that's become a part of our schooling system, rather than if a child knows whether to use 'may' or 'might' in a sentence. People will learn grammar eventually, we shouldn't worry about it so much.

I can't find the quiz. :(

Thanks, Niamh. :hugesmile:

6 out of 10. Not bad. :hugesmile:

It's really good considering English isn't even your first language

That is why i struggled with this test. I would have got 10 out 10 if it was italian grammar. :hugesmile:

The problem with your statement is that people DON'T "learn grammar eventually" and "the standard of grammar IS getting worse" - ask any employer ..... ;)

Once the rules are on the way out then what used to be a common language becomes, as it used to be, a myriad of dialects ..... :eek:

5 out of 10, You would have to have an English language degree to know half of those haha!

How to talk Yorkshire
 

A young man, waiting for his date is ushered into the sitting room to keep company with father who after eleven pints is semi-comatose. Desperate to impress, t'lad (cos that's how they speak in Yorkshire) tries to engage conversation by admiring the gleaming copper coal scuttle.

"That's a grand scuttle, Mr. Rodgers, for coal"

"Tha what son?"

"Ah said, for coal"

"Oh, ah thought tha said summat".

:laugh3:

8/10. I didn't get 3 and 8.

:laugh2:

Yes because once people no longer have the collective understanding of the semi-colon, English will of course unravel and die out. :rolleyes:

This happens all the time, people worry about the language crumbling and tearing apart at the seems when it well.. isn't it. It's just change, not decay. Change does not mean standards are getting worse, they're just shifting.

300 years ago, there were two different types of 's' that had to be written depending on the word. Do you suppose that the loss of that grammatical rule is a sign of grammar standards worsening too?

I totally understand. I would have got 10/10 if it was American grammar. :hmph:

Once the rot sets in ..... ;)

I note, however, that YOUR grammar, is almost perfect ..... :pipe:

Speaking as someone who gets through quite a lot of work experience placements, I'd have to say that sadly, change does sometimes mean standards are slipping. When you employ an intern who's just graduated or about to graduate, and they can't write a basic letter, using good spelling, punctuation and grammar, then you have to accept the fact that standards are much lower now than they were when I graduated, and in the scheme of things, that wasn't that long ago.

It's not really 'rot' though at all. English has gone through this constant shift for nearly a 1000 years. It's just how this - and all other - languages work.

And thank you, given my score on the test I suppose that demonstrates that grammar isn't something that needs to be tested at all, huh? Even though I don't know all of the specifics I can still accurately write a sentence (mostly anyways)..

Fair enough. I'm not sure I agree that it means standards are slipping though, I mean most people my age that I'm friends with can accurately punctuate and write. There's obviously lots of factors that feed into that I suppose, but that's my perception anyway.

I am generalising, naturally. I agree that language changes and develops all the time, but not being able to make yourself clear in your native language at graduate level is shameful. Your own English skills though, as Omah said, are excellent.

Yeah I suppose it is a bit ridiculous that graduates can come out of university with that skill.

And thank you. :bigsmile: I want to do English at Uni anyway and I've always loved the subject, so that's probably why. :laugh:

i hate grammar with a passion i rebel against it. most of it is not needed and just sad really.
i hate the grammar police even more. There is far more important things in life .

language and spelling should be simple but some sado decided no this is the way it should be and everyone who doesn't do correctly is a dumbass lol.

i don't conform to it myself as you may of seen in my posts lol

saddo... ;)

5 out of 10 and I just finished an English and Linguistics degree. Oh dear.

D:

i got 7/10 btw but that crap was dry

So why do you place such emphasis on the proper use of the English language - why aren't you illiterate ..... :laugh2:

Why conform to the norm, why not be "different" ..... :pipe:

10/10.

Feel free to correct me if this is invalid but wasn't grammar was scraped from the syllabuses back in the early 1960s (alongside Latin), as there was a mutual agreement that no one needed to be drilled into a language which they already knew and employers began to complain about 3 decades later regarding the poor syntax of students and starting employees?

Yep I got that one wrong :laugh: and I knew the word but because of never using it, I think I forgot the meaning.

Anyway I thought the quiz was good the way it clearly explained the answers.