Grammar Quiz

red top rescue

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Sure, I'll have a go at it .

DANG!  I missed one, got 95%

Not even sure which one I missed. 

Maybe they will post the answers on Saturday.
 
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Willowy

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Well poo. I only got 85%. I like to think I'm good at grammar. We probably got the same ones wrong ;). Plus I got one extra wrong, lol. I think I got the creek question wrong. I think I'll see if I can retake it. . .

OK I retook it and got 100%. I got the coats question, the group of students question, and the creek question wrong the first time. Maybe those are the tricky ones to look at again.
 
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Primula

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What did you put for coats, creek & students group? I don't want to wait for tomorrow to find out what I did wrong. The first one threw me off: I had never heard of a "helping verb".
 
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Primula

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Sure, I'll have a go at it .
DANG!  I missed one, got 95%
Not even sure which one I missed. 
Maybe they will post the answers on Saturday.
They will, but I want to know now what I got wrong. As a Brit, I pride myself on knowing English grammar. :)
 

Willowy

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I had to google "helping verb"; I'd never heard of it either. For my answers, I made them a spoiler so other people can still give it a try :D.

For the coats question, the first time I put childrens' but apparently the right answer is children's, I gather this is because children is already plural ;). For the group of students, the first time I put is---I could have sworn that I learned that a group. . .is, not a group. . .are. But I guess "are" is correct. For the creek question, the subject is "you" because it is a directive---YOU are not to go down to the creek during a flood. The first time I put "creek".
 
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Primula

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I had to google "helping verb"; I'd never heard of it either. For my answers, I made them a spoiler so other people can still give it a try :D.

For the coats question, the first time I put childrens' but apparently the right answer is children's, I gather this is because children is already plural ;). For the group of students, the first time I put is---I could have sworn that I learned that a group. . .is, not a group. . .are. But I guess "are" is correct. For the creek question, the subject is "you" because it is a directive---YOU are not to go down to the creek during a flood. The first time I put "creek".
The creek one tripped me up. Of course YOU is the subject. Duh to me.

Yes, children is what is called a plural noun.

No way does group of students get are instead of is. That is totally wrong. Wrong. Wrong. You would never say a flock of birds are flying. Flock is a collective noun as is group.

Dumb quiz!
 

margd

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I got a 90% and am not sure where I went wrong, either.   
   My grammar skills have apparently eroded over the many years since I've taken English.  
 
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Primula

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Did you put a group "is" because, apparently, the quiz is saying it should be "are", which is wrong. Will have to check tomorrow when answers are revealed.
 

margd

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Did you put a group "is" because, apparently, the quiz is saying it should be "are", which is wrong. Will have to check tomorrow when answers are revealed.
Yes, I did. Well, maybe we got 95%!  
 

Winchester

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What did you put for coats, creek & students group? I don't want to wait for tomorrow to find out what I did wrong. The first one threw me off: I had never heard of a "helping verb".
I had 95%. I used "You" for the creek question. I think it's an implied subject. "(You) don't go near the creek....."

The group is...... Because "group" is the actual subject and is singular, with "of students" being a prepositional phrase? But what do I know? Obviously English is not my forte. (Just read Willowy's spoiler tag. I don't agree (not with Willowy, but with the reasoning behind the "group of students" question.) So that's the one I messed up on.
 
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profdanglais

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100%. I'm an English teacher, so it was pretty easy for me. "Group" is a collective noun, and those are always singular--I put "is" so if you did the same and still got 95% it's something else that's off. Verbs in the imperative tense (don't go to the creek...) have "you" as their subject. If anyone has any other questions, I can probably answer them ;).
 

DreamerRose

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No, a group is;   it's a collective noun. What is throwing you off is that a plural ("of students") precedes the verb.

I got 95%, and I'm an English major, too. I think the one I got wrong was "a lot" or "alot." I think the correct grammar was the former, but am not sure. It could have been bad  and badly, too, because badly  is an adverb, saying how you felt, but since we are talking about feelings here, and not about touching something, I went with bad  following a state of being verb.

This "helping verb" business is mixing up a lot of people, making it more complicated than it really is. Are  is a state of being verb and is followed by an adjective. Calling it a helping verb muddies the waters, but that's what people are teaching now. They are doing the same thing with present perfect and past perfect tenses, calling have  and had  helping verbs.
 

Willowy

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"Alot" is never correct. That is not a word :D.

Yeah, the answer was "felt bad". I once learned something about when to say "badly" although I don't remember the details. But you never feel badly, unless you have a diminished sense of touch ;).
 
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DreamerRose

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Well, at least I didn't fall for "ahold of." That's been a pet peeve for a long time.
 
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Willowy

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And "should of", "could of", etc. I realize that should've and could've SOUND like should of/could of but nooooo! That's a major grammer pet peeve of mine, lol.
 

lavishsqualor

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Well, "group" is technically the subject and "of students" is a prepositional phrase.
 
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