Grammar and punctuation test.

[Lady Whistledown]

I got a quite shocking score.

Then again at no point during my years at school, including English A Level, was I taught what half of those terms used in that quiz mean.

It's far more important to me that I can spell, and know the difference between there, their and they're, than to be able to explain what a subjunctive clause is.

 

[Brovion]

I got 11.

In my defence I don't think they taught most of that stuff while I was at school

Mine as well! Back in the 1970s I had an English teacher who actually said "Listen, I'm not going to lay a heavy learning trip down on you kids. Words! Just use 'em!" Fine at a certain level but it really does help to know the rules and the structure before you break them.

 

[skipper734]

An old git reminisces …
This is the sort of stuff that was taught in primary schools in my day.

I obviously wasn't listening then; or you went to a special sort of primary School. Incidentally without NSC I would have known even less English Grammar, so thanks to all.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Mine as well! Back in the 1970s I had an English teacher who actually said "Listen, I'm not going to lay a heavy learning trip down on you kids. Words! Just use 'em!" Fine at a certain level but it really does help to know the rules and the structure before you break them.

And it certainly helps to have a solid foundation of English grammar rules if you want to learn a foreign language.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

And it certainly helps to have a solid foundation of English grammar rules if you want to learn a foreign language.

I was always pretty good at foreign languages though, and as previously stated, I genuinely had no idea what most of the grammatical terminology in that quiz meant.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I obviously wasn't listening then; or you went to a special sort of primary School.

I was taught by Irish-speaking nuns in Wales. They also operated in Latin.

 

[Woodchip]

11/14. Very little of that information was taught to me at my place of education. Guessed most of them involving clauses and prepositions and things.

 

[The Large One]

I was taught by Irish-speaking nuns in Wales. They also operated in Latin.

QED.

 

[Bakero]

An old git reminisces …
This is the sort of stuff that was taught in primary schools in my day.

I am young(ish) git so grammar certainly wasn't taught when I was at school. If I'd taken this test 10 years ago I'm not sure I would've done so well.

 

[Bakero]

And it certainly helps to have a solid foundation of English grammar rules if you want to learn a foreign language.

I was just about to post that.

I was always pretty good at foreign languages though, and as previously stated, I genuinely had no idea what most of the grammatical terminology in that quiz meant.

I remember being perplexed by grammatical terms when learning French at school. Having a working knowledge of my own language certainly would have been beneficial.

 

[Acker79]

10/14. There answers must-be wrong.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I was just about to post that.



I remember being perplexed by grammatical terms when learning French at school. Having a working knowledge of my own language certainly would have been beneficial.

I just picked it up as I went along, grammar or no grammar. Loved doing French at school, would have liked to have pursued it at A Level but it didn't fit in with my other exams

Chateauneuf du Pape, Rodders.

 

[The Large One]

I was always pretty good at foreign languages though, and as previously stated, I genuinely had no idea what most of the grammatical terminology in that quiz meant.

A split infinitive.

 

[Razzoo]

7/14 I've never heard of a "Gerund" before

 

[Lady Whistledown]

A split infinitive.

Dont no wot wun off them is neither mate.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

13.

I found some old O-Level papers I took in the mid-80s the other week - compared to what kids are given now, it seemed really tricky. But I bet every generation will end up saying that.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I can spell paedophile though, which elevates me above approximately 75% of posters on NSC.

 

[Brightonfan1983]

A split infinitive.

Not strictly true. 'had' is neither bare or full. Or an infinitive...

 

[Lady Whistledown]

13.

I found some old O-Level papers I took in the mid-80s the other week - compared to what kids are given now, it seemed really tricky. But I bet every generation will end up saying that.

Depends on what you're taught though. Yes, O Level papers from the 80s look complicated to people educated more recently, but that's because they were never taught the subject matter included in the papers. So of course they look hard. I daresay there are exams now that would leave older people befuddled, simply because their school syllabuses...sylllabi...did not cover the topics (and were no doubt written and answered in a completely different style).

 

[Brightonfan1983]

You're right. My mum's classics paper was all Greek to me.