Grammar Review · Source
How good is your English? Have you ever said me and then wondered if it shouldn't have been I—or vice versa? Do you sometimes get a little confused about lay and lie or who and whom?
Perhaps you are often a little less than certain about the distinction between effect and affect, principal and principle, childish and childlike?
Here is a series of quick tests that will show you how skillful you are in using the right word in the right place, that will give you a reliable indication of how your language ability compares with the average.
If your English is every bit as good as average, you will have no difficulty making a proper choice in at least eight of the following ten sentences.
1. There is a beautiful moon out tonight and Estelle and I are going for a stroll—would you like to come along with ___?
2. Your husband doesn't believe that you are older than ___.
3. Maybe we're not as rich as ___, but I bet we're a lot happier.
4. Does your child still ___ down for a nap after lunch?
5. When we saw Mary openly flirting with Nellie's husband, we ___ hardly believe our eyes.
6. You should ___ put more vermouth into the martini.
7. Does your company ___ you have as long a lunch break as you would like?
8. Harriet feels that her ___ are impossible to get along with.
9. "What ___ car are you looking for?" asked the salesman.
10. Mrs. White was delighted that the Fennells had invited John and ___ to their party.
Choose correctly in at least seven of the following problems to consider that your skill is distinctly above average—get all ten right to conclude that you rarely, if ever, make an error in grammar.
1. What ___ has the new administration's policies had on investor confidence?
2. A feeling of one's worth is one of the ___ goals of psychological therapy.
3. There's no sense ___ carrying on that way.
4. I can't remember ___ it was.
5. The infant ___ quietly sucking its thumb.
6. No one but ___ ever made a perfect score on the test.
7. In the early days of frontier history, horse thieves were ___.
8. Neither of your responses ___ satisfactory.
9. Either of these two small cars, if properly maintained, ___ sure to give over thirty miles per gallon in highway driving.
10. Tell ___ is waiting to come in.
Now you can discover how close you are to being an expert in English. The next ten sentences are no cinch—you will be acquitting yourself creditably if you check the correct word five times out of ten. And you have every right to consider yourself an expert if you get nine or ten right.
1. We have just interviewed an applicant ___ the committee believes is best qualified for the position.
2. She is one of those gifted writers who ___ out one best seller after another.
3. Don't sound so ___; what I am saying is absolutely true.
4. We were totally ___ in the offer.
5. This recipe calls for two ___ of sugar.
6. Are you trying to ___ by those words that he is not to be trusted?
7. We thought the actress to be ___, but we weren't sure.
8. Was it ___ you were talking about?
9. Your criteria ___ not valid.
10. "It is I who ___ the only friend you've got," she told him pointedly.
Commonly confused words and grammar rules covered in this intermission.
10 grammar entries
Lie means to recline (no object needed): "lie down for a nap." Lay means to place something (requires an object): "lay the book on the table." Lay is also the past tense of lie: "The infant lay quietly."
Who is the subject form (like he/she): "Who is waiting?" Whom is the object form (like him/her): "To whom did you speak?"
Effect as a noun means "result" or "influence": "What effect has it had?" Affect as a verb means "to influence": "How did it affect you?"
Principal means "chief" or "main" (adjective) or "head person" (noun): "principal goals." Principle is a noun meaning "rule" or "fundamental truth": "a matter of principle."
Imply means to suggest or hint at something (speaker's action): "Are you trying to imply he can't be trusted?" Infer means to draw a conclusion from evidence (listener's action): "I infer from your tone that you're upset."
Incredulous describes a person who is skeptical or disbelieving: "Don't sound so incredulous." Incredible describes a thing that is hard to believe: "an incredible story."
Disinterested means impartial or having no personal stake: "a disinterested judge." Uninterested means bored or not interested: "We were totally uninterested in the offer."
Hanged is the past tense of hang when referring to execution: "horse thieves were hanged." Hung is the past tense for all other meanings: "hung a picture on the wall."
The correct plural of compound nouns with "in-law" is formed by pluralizing the main noun, not the suffix: brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, mothers-in-law.
The correct plural of cupful is cupfuls, not cupsful. Similarly: spoonfuls, handfuls, bucketfuls.