After a long time, I’ve decided to take up a specific question in writing. It’s about the length of a sentence.
Oh, yes, we know a sentence – not the ones awarded in a courtroom – can be just one word: “Stop!”
It could have two words and so on. But that is not the bug-bite here. It is the other end of the limit.
How long is too long? When do we pause while punching in to say,
USA1- 877- 252 - 7763
1- 425- 458- 9358
No Comments »
Howdy, did you manage to crack it?
Here are the answers. Compare!
The answers are in bold. Did you notice that the prepositions given stand for time, place, and motion?
[1] Mundra stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the fifth floor.
[2] As Mundra stood silently in the elevator, the woman beside him began to sing.
[3] The woman was wearing a paper crown on her head.
[4] Mundra was scheduled for an a
Isn’t it time for a quiz? This time it is on prepositions. I’m choosing this because of an article I read on the decline in the use of correct propositions. We are all preposition-challenged, [or is it “prepositionally-challenged”?] said the story. Check out!
Choose the most appropriate preposition from those given between the brackets and complete the sentences.
When you’re done, compare your respons
I am thrilled to start off the New Year with a quiz, that too on usage. 2011 was a great year for new words, new phrases, new expressions. Remember “We are the 99 percent”? “1 percent”? The 9-9-9 theory? Didn’t “occupy” acquire a whole new meaning?
So here is a usage quiz. Find out that one word in each of these sentences that is way off the mark for the context. The sentences are from the New York Ti
30
Dec
2011
Posted Under - Good Writing, Grammar 101, Quiz Time
My “Blog Fodder” file is getting larger. Why do writers (across the world) make so many errors in grammar and usage? Isn’t error-free writing important any more? Isn’t an eye for accuracy – for content and language – a part of the qualifications for being a writer? Is sloppy writing ok?
Find your own answer. Meanwhile, take this quiz. I copied and pasted these sentences during my
26
Dec
2011
My dear friend R Gemini sent me this test paper. It is for the A-Levels.
I would have thought that someone setting a test paper at that level would have superior spelling ability – but the paper says, “Ministery (sic) of Education, Ireland / Department for Learning / Exam Sheet for A-Levels.” Sigh.
The test appears simple. There are just 4 questions. My guess is that they are meant to test your IQ
16
Nov
2011
Posted Under - Good Writing, Grammar 101, Quiz Time
Malapropism in literature is a type of humor when a character uses a wrong, but similar word. For example, in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, the nurse says the word “confidence” when she really means conference, and “indite” instead of invite. The question remains, what was this type of humor called in Shakespeare’s time?
The word “malapropism” comes from a charac
8
Nov
2011
Posted Under - Grammar 101, Quiz Time, Which one is right?
Keep aside “Weather” (the thing that keeps changing outside your window every day) and “Whether” (that question mark on your mind when you have options).
Did you know there is a “Wether”?
My MS Windows XP Spellchecker doesn’t even recognize the word. But yes, there is a “Wether” and it means [a] a male sheep or ram (the Oxford Dictionary of Etymology traces its roots to Old English, Old High Germa
31
Oct
2011
Posted Under - Good Writing, Grammar 101, Quiz Time, Which one is right?
A reader asks: Are “awhile” and “a while” the same? When you split it into two words, is it just a typo error?
No. It is not a type error. These two perform different functions. They are used differently, though their meaning could be the same.
“Awhile” is an adverb. Which means it says something more about a verb, as in the horse ran…fast. [“Fast” is the adverb here.]
So, “awhile” modifies a
19
Oct
2011
Modifiers (or descriptors), as I have said again and again, can be slippery. Among single words, these are the most dangerous: only, almost, already, even, just, nearly, merely, always.
Read this example to see how the meaning changes with change in modifier placement.
Only he could have committed the crime. As against
He could have committed only this crime. See what I mean?
Again, They almost worked five years on
- Writing a thank-you note – 1 11:18 am, February 4, 2012
- Diversity in the classroom – Educating ourselves 9:45 pm, January 31, 2012
- Diversity in the classroom – Language can mar or mend relationships 11:33 pm, January 30, 2012
- Diversity in the classroom – 4 9:22 am, January 29, 2012
- Diversity in the classroom – 3 11:29 am, January 26, 2012
- Diversity in the classroom – 2 8:05 pm, January 23, 2012
- Diversity in the classroom 9:54 pm, January 21, 2012
- Check-list for essay writing – 2 10:56 pm, January 17, 2012
- Check-list for essay writing – 1 9:38 pm, January 15, 2012
- What is wrong with this? 11:28 am, January 13, 2012
