ERROR IDENTIFICATION #1

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What's the wrong with each of the sentences below?

The answers are in the COMMENTS below. Be sure to try to find your own answers before looking at mine!

1. This large goat is only living in the mountains of Switzerland.
2. I call to thank you for the present you sent.
3. John is resembling his older sister.
4. The rise in demand for timber destroys large areas of rainforest.
5. I work at the University for over ten years now.
6. When have you got here?
7. Have you read a book called Accountancy Is Fun? 'Who has written it?'
8. Charles is a gifted footballer, but up to now he didn't play well in international matches.
9. We've seen Jean in town the other day.
10. Have you ever been to the opera when you lived in Milan?
11. I was meeting a lot of interesting people while I was working in Norway.
12. Being in large crowds was always making her feel nervous.
13. How long are you wearing glasses?
14. We've been staying with Paul and Jenny until last weekend.
15. That's twice I've been forgetting to bring my diary to work this week.
16. I've never been listening to any of Plop's music before.
17. The new bridge had been opened six months ago.
18. He just heard the news and was rushing home to tell his family.
19. When I saw the vase, I knew it was exactly what I had looked for.
20. I had been knowing Helen for a number of years.

No cheating. Agonize a while before checking the answers!

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A Friend's Gritty Grammar Problems Solved

Hey there! A thousand sincere apologies for taking so long to get back to you about this. Better late than never - at least I hope that's true in this case!

Four interesting problems.

1. During free fall, ______ up to a full minute, a skydriver will fall at a constant speed.

a. it is
b. which is
c. being
d. is



You said: My answer is B. However, actually, I'm a little bit confused. What is the meaning of "up to a full minute". And what does the "up to a full minute" explain? the "free fall" or the "skydriver"? If skydriver, can we use the connector "which"?

You are correct. The answer is B. "Up to a full minute" is an amount of time. It is a description of the duration of the "free fall". If it referred to the skydiver (which it doesn't - and couldn't!) we couldn't use "which".

2. Radioactive ______ provides a powerful way to easure geologic time.

a. it
b. dates
c. dating
d. can



You said: My answer is C. Can an adjective stand by itself? I mean the radioactive here as the subject and it's explained by the word "dating"?

You are correct. The answer is C. An adjective cannot stand by itself and cannot act as the subject.

3. Until _____ incorrect, astronomers had assumed that the insides of white dwarfs were uniform.

a. they
b. their proof
c. the astronomers recently proven
d. recently proven



You said: My answer is D, and I'm really sure of it.. But, I can't get the meaning. What is the meaning of "the insides of white dwarfs were uniform"? What is uniform in this sentence?

You are correct. The answer is D. What is "uniform" in this sentence? It's clear: "the insides of white dwarfs" are uniform (only they're not, because that theory has been disproven!) If you have difficulty because of the technical words like "white dwarfs" and "uniform", just replace them with other words, like this: "[the bathroom walls in all the guest rooms] were [painted the same colour]".

4. In Hailey, the best known lecturer was women's rights activist Abigail Scott Duniway of Portland, Oregon, who could usually be persuaded to speak ______ town visiting her son.

a. she was in
b. while in
c. while she was in
d. was in



You said: My answer is B. Not sure, though. What is the main subject and verb in this sentence? the best known lecturer and was???? Why isn't there comma in front of Abigail Scott Duniway? I mean, it is an appositive.

You are correct. The answer is B. "The best known lecturer" is the main subject in this sentence. Let's strip away some 'unnecessary' words and paraphrase others and see what the sentence then looks like:

The lecturer was Abigail, who usually spoke when in town.

A comma before "Abigail Scott Duniway" would make a mess! It would mean we ought to be able to remove "Abigail Scott Duniway of Portland, Oregon" from the sentence and still be left with something that made (less detailed) sense. But would we? "The best known lecturer was women's rights activist who could usually be persuaded to speak". But "activist" has no article - neither indefinite nor definite. This is because "activist" is, here, part of a three word phrase that descibes Abigail.

Phew!

The Most Famous Verbal Slip Of All Time?

It's one small step for man,
one giant leap for mankind.



These are the famous words spoken by Neil Armstrong in 1969 as he climbed out of the lunar module and onto the moon's surface.

But... he got his "famous words" wrong.

Do you know why?

Answers in the COMMENTS below.

Spot The Error #3

Can you spot the rather unfortunate error in the tattoo below?



Answers in COMMENTS below please.

Do you have a tattoo? Why not send it to us here at http://wbed.blogspot.com/ so that we can check it for spelling mistakes. But remember, as Yuan has told us, the olny impotrant tihng is taht the fisrt and lsat letetr be in the rhgit pcale. So don't worry too much.

Cartoon - Breakfast at the Grammar Cafe

So? What is the right answer?

Spot The Error #2

Can you spot the mistakes on this sign board? How many mistakes can you find?



What do you think "P.P.P.N." means?

Answers in the COMMENTS below please!

C.S.I. Yogya - Special Grammar Police Unit #1

Call in the Grammar Crime Scene Unit. There are EIGHT errors in the following text. Can you find them?
I've listened to you're story. And there isn't any reason for me to believe you. Its unbelievable! Who's idea was it to tell Ani? Their are times when you should keep a secret and times when you should open your mouth. Well, your in trouble now! Whose going to tell the university? And how on Earth can we give there bicycle back? And what about it's wheel? It's completely broken! Whose fault is it? Well it's not mine! Who's going to pay for the damage? You're crazy if you think I can pay for their bicycle! I can't even afford to replace its wheel!

To make it more interesting the EIGHT incorrectly used words in text are also used correctly, once each. Give your answers in the COMMENTS below.

Spot The Error #1

Can you see the mistake in the text on the memorial plaque above?

Answer in the COMMENTS below!

Grammar Book - PDF with hyperlinks

Here is a very useful grammar book It is in PDF format but it has hyperlinks which means that if you click on certain text you are able to jump from page to page in order to find what you are looking for. There are 224 pages. The file is zipped to 800KB. Highly recommended.

Download it by clicking on the picture of "Grammar Crackers" below: