Quiz: Grammar puss

1. Which of the following is/are spelt correctly?
A. expresso
B. accessable
C. afficionado
D. focuses
E. millennium

2. Where necessary, insert apostrophes into the following phrases:
A. Barclays Bank
B. Diners card
C. for goodness sake
D. one years warranty
E. futures market
F. the company has extended its contract

3. When in a letter should you use 'yours faithfully' and when 'yours sincerely'?

4. What is the difference between biennial and biannual?

5. Choose the correct word to complete the following sentences:
A. Half the consignment (was/were) damaged
B. England has/have finally beaten the West Indies
C. He couldn't decide whether to accept/except the invitation
D. The speech had a tremendous affect/effect on the audience
E. You don't have to pay for the tickets - they're complementary/complimentary

6. How would you distinguish a 'conglomerate' from a 'multinational'?

7. What is the plural of consortium?

8. How many noughts in a billion?

9. Spot the deliberate mistake in each of the following sentences:
A. I look forward to seeing you all in the year 2,000
B. The meeting that had been planned to discuss all these new issues, did not actually take place
C. The software was first introduced in 1992
D. The deal arises from a mutual agreement made by two leading IT groups
E. I don't think much of your's!
F. A 1 per cent rise in the mortgage rate is planned, from 11 per cent to 12 per cent

10. What is the difference between:
A. 'canvass' and 'canvas'?
B. 'disinterested' and 'uninterested'
C. 'continual' and 'continuous'
D. 'regrettably' and 'regretfully'
E. obsolete and obsolescent

11. Find a single word to replace each of these overworked phrases:
A. in the very near future
B. at this moment in time
C. the vast majority of
D. due to the fact that

12. Turn the following into phrases with apostrophes (so 'the house of my brother' becomes 'my brother's house'):
A. The views of his boss
B. The views of his bosses

13. Sharpen up the following sentences by removing one unnecessary word from each:
A. The profit margin is estimated at about £20,000
B. Successfully securing this new contract would be the perfect way to answer our critics
C. I think this company's past experiences and achievements speak for themselves

14. One word or two?
A. vice versa/viceversa
B. under way/underway

15. Choose the correct word:
A. Steve, formerly/formally of IBM, joins next week to head up our new marketing division
B. I disagree with this policy on principle/principal
C. My principle/principal reason for disagreeing is ...
D. No inflammable/flammable materials will be used in the design
E. The new deadlines don't faze/phase me.

16. What is wrong with this sentence?
There will be delegates at the conference from China, Japan and Taiwan.
Representatives of the latter ...

17. As a tenant, would you rather pay a rent that was economical or economic?

18. What's the difference between the United Kingdom, Great Britain and the British Isles?

19. What is the singular of criteria?

20. How many departments is your company comprised of?

21. What does 'decimate' literally mean?

22. What is a 'quango'?

23. 'Identical with' or 'identical to'?

24. What are 'worms' and 'trojans'?

25. 'To boldly go where no man has gone before' is an example of which grammatical curiosity?

26. Is it (see 25) an error?

27. What do you call the inhabitants of:
A. Moscow
B. Manchester
C. The Philippines

28. What do the following abbreviations stand for?
A. PIN
B. Tessa
C. GNP
D. IBM

29. Which of these sentences is/are correct?
A. Company revenue is growing at the rate of 20% a year
B. Company revenue is growing at 20% a year
C. Company revenue is growing by 20% a year

30. More deliberate mistakes:
A. An estimated one in three of the managers who are entitled to the bonus payment have not yet claimed it
B. The pressure of working long hours without a break have been the cause of some careless mistakes
C. Please acknowlege receipt of this letter within seven days
D. We cannot make this decision irregardless of our client's wishes
E. I sent him a fax inferring that his offer was unlikely to be acceptable
F. This project could go on for weeks - like last year

USEFUL READING
The Financial Times Style Guide by Colin Inman
(FT Pitman Publishing).
Much-respected manual with a full section on computing terms

Full Marks by John Kirkman
(Ramsbury Books, £6.35).
A concise guide to punctuation

Troublesome Words by Bill Bryson
(Penguin, £6.99)
An entertaining trawl through the language's problem areas from the author of Mother Tongue and Notes from a Small Island

Grammar & Style for Examination Candidates and others by Michael Dummett
(Duckworth)
An unforgiving, wonderfully waspish survey of common written errors

ANSWERS
1. A, B and C are wrong: they should read 'espresso', 'accessible' and 'aficionado'. D and E are correct.
2. No apostrophes are needed in A, B, E and F. C: for goodness' sake. D: one year's warranty.
3. The convention is to use 'yours faithfully' where you do not know the name of your correspondent and have begun instead with 'Dear Sir or Madam', 'Dear New Customer' etc. Use 'Yours sincerely' where you do know the name: after 'Dear Jane', 'Dear Mr Glover', 'Dear Jane Ashberry' etc.
4. 'Biennial' means every two years. 'Biannual' means twice a year.
5. A: was B: have C: accept D: effect E: complimentary
6. 'A conglomerate is a group with diversified interests, often built up by acquisition. A multinational is a company that has manufacturing bases or subsidiaries in several countries.' (FT Style Guide)
7. consortia
8. Nowadays, nine. An English billion used to have 12 noughts, but the US convention has taken over.
9. A: No comma in 2,000 - we don't say '1,999'! B: No comma needed. C: Remove 'first': you cannot introduce something for a second time. D: Remove 'mutual': what is an agreement if not mutual? E: No apostrophe in 'yours'. F: Strictly, a rise from 11% to 12% is not a '1 per cent rise' but a '1 (percentage) point rise'.
10. A: To 'canvass' is to survey opinion (especially political opinion); 'canvas' is what tents are made of. B: 'A disinter-ested person is one who has no stake in the outcome of an event, an uninterested person is one who doesn't care.' (Bill Bryson) C: 'Continual' means repeated over a period of time; 'continuous' means uninterrupted. D: 'Regrettably' means unfortunately; 'regretfully' means with feelings of regret. E: 'Obsolete' items are no longer useful or needed; 'obsolescent' ones are on their way there.
11. A: soon B: now, currently C: most or many D: because.
12: A: His boss's views (or 'his boss' views', though where the 's' is pronounced it is usual to write it). B: His bosses' views.
13. A: Remove 'about': its meaning is conveyed by the verb 'estimate'. B: Remove 'successfully'. C: Remove 'past'.
14. A: one word B: two words
15. A: formerly B: principle C: principal D: either: bizarrely, they mean the same thing E: faze
16. The words 'former' and 'latter' can really only refer to the first or second of two things. here, 'representatives of the latter' would be better expressed simply as 'The Taiwanese representatives'
17. Economical, which means cheap or thrifty. 'An economic rent is one that is not too cheap for the landlord. An economical rent is one that is not too expensive for the tenant.' (Bill Bryson)
18. 'Great Britain' refers to England, Scotland and Wales, together with adjacent islands governed from the mainland. The 'UK' is essentially 'GB' plus Northern Ireland. 'British Isles' additionally includes Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands belonging to Britain.
19. criterion
20. None. Your company may comprise several departments, or be composed of them, but comprised of - never.
21. To reduce by a tenth - not to reduce to a tenth, or even to cut into ten!
22. A 'quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation'.
23. Identical with.
24. Virus-like types of malicious software.
25. The split infinitive.
26. Actually, no - or at least not a grammatical one. Most authorities see the split infinitive not as an error but as a construction that is usually best avoided. Occasionally it may be the best option, as in Kirk's catch phrase or as in the sentence, 'our object is to cement further trade relations', where the position of 'further' cannot really be bettered. However, never say 'to not go' rather than 'not to go'.
27. A: Muscovites. B: Mancunians. C: Filipinos.
28. A: personal identification number B: tax exempt special savings account C: gross national product D: International Business Machines
29. A and C.
30. A: 'have' should be 'has' - the verb refers back to the 'one in three managers', and should therefore be singular. B: Again, turn 'have' into 'has' - the subject of the verb, 'pressure', is singular. C: The correct spelling is acknowledge. D: 'Irregardless' is not a word. 'Irrespective' is. E: For 'inferring', read 'implying'. The usual rule is that a speaker or writerimplies, while a hearer or reader infers. Thus I might very well infer something from the fax you sent me ? though whether my inferences tallied with your implications would depend on the clarity of your message. F: It is in the nature of years to go on for weeks (and weeks)! Saying 'like last year's' would clear up the ambiguity. Better still, write, 'this project, like last year's.

TIPS FOR BETTER WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
- Keep your sentences brief, say, to no more than 30 words. If your sentence is getting longer than this, think again and re-phrase. Very often, dividing a long sentence into two can make a great improvement.

- Make the full stop your favourite form of punctuation. Punctuate sparingly - too many marks can bog writing down. As a rough guide, read your words aloud and use punctuation as a way of marking a pause for breath or the start of a new thought or idea.

- Use punchy, active verbs and phrases rather than long-winded passive constructions. Write 'Today we offer you' rather than 'Today, you are being offered'.

- See each paragraph as a distinct unit of thought. So, for instance, a letter seeking new business might divide into paragraphs as follows:

1. Introduce yourself and your company.
2. Explain the purpose of writing.
3. Describe your company's unique selling points.
4. Underline the reasons why your company is uniquely equipped to help your correspondent.
5. Explain any additional offers/incentives.
6. Give follow-up details.
7. Sign off cordially.
8. One-sentence paragraphs are perfectly acceptable, particularly fax or emails.

- Avoid jargon or overworked phrases. Why say 'interface' when you mean 'meeting'; or 'finalise' instead of 'complete', 'conclude', or just 'finish'?

- Avoid putting your reader off by using too many acronyms and abbreviations.

- Prune. Lose vacuously deployed words and phrases like 'as it were', 'effectively', 'first and foremost', 'at this moment in time', 'to all intents and purposes'.

- Be consistent. Some points of grammar and many spellings - particularly in IT - are still disputed. Your best bet is to decide on your way of doing things and stick to it.

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