Have you got a grasp of grammar?

Have you got a grasp of grammar?

Apostrophe?

1. The dog is wagging  _______ tail. it’s / its

2. _______ a dog’s life. Its / It’s

Explanation‘Its’ indicates possession. ‘It’s’ means ‘it is’ or ‘it has’.

Who’s or whose?

1. _______   shoes are these? Who’s / Whose

2. _______ coming shopping? Who’s / Whose

Explanation‘Whose’ indicates possession. ‘Who’s’ is a contraction (shorter version) of ‘who is’.

Whether or weather?

1. I’m not sure _______ to go to Spain or Greece. whether / weather

2. _______ in England is unpredictable. whether / weather

Explanation‘Whether’ and ‘weather’ are homophones, which means they sound the same. ‘Weather’ refers to the temperature. ‘Whether’ is a conjunction with a similar meaning to ‘if’.

Your or you’re?

1. I admire _______ courage. your / you’re

2. _______ very brave. your / you’re

Explanation‘Your’ indicates possession. ‘You’re’ is a contraction (shorter version) of ‘you are’.

I or me?

1. The car beeped at Jon and _______ I. / me.

2. Karen and Up _______  went on holiday. I / me

ExplanationThe rules around the use of the pronouns ‘I’ and ‘me’ can be tricky. A simple way to test whether you’re using the right one is to think about whether a statement would still make sense if you removed the other person. You wouldn’t say, “The car beeped at I” so the correct pronoun is ‘me’.

Apostrophe?

1. I will be 30 in two _______ time. year’s /years’

2. I will be 29 in one _______ time. year’s /years’

ExplanationExpressions of time are also known as ‘temporal expressions’. When used in temporal expressions, the apostrophe is placed before the ‘s’ for single units and after for multiple units.

That or which?

1. Phones _______ have cameras are generally more expensive. that / which

2. My bedroom, _______ is currently pink, needs painting that / which

ExplanationYou can remove the clause containing ‘which’ from a sentence without changing the meaning. ‘That’, however, is necessary.

Have or of?

1. They should ______ arrived by now. of / have

2. They could _______ arrived earlier. of / have

Explanation‘Of’ should never follow the words ‘could’, ‘would’ or ‘should’. Always use ‘have.’

Fewer or less?

1. We need ______ furniture in this office. less / fewer

2. Could we get by with Up ______ desks? fewer / less

Explanation. If you can count the number of items (count nouns) use ‘fewer’. If not, you’re probably referring to mass nouns so use ‘less’. Time, money and distance are exceptions – use ‘less’ for these too. So even if you can count how many hours a meeting lasted for, you’d say, “The meeting lasted for less than two hours.”

There, their or they’re?

1. ______ going to Spain to stay in their holiday home. They’re  /  There  /  Their

2. Hopefully it’ll be hot ______ 1. they’re   /   there!   /   their!
Explanation. ’There’ is a place, ‘their’ indicates possession, and ‘they’re’ is a contraction (i.e. a shorter version) of ‘they are’.

Affect or effect?

1. She was really ______by the mood of her newborn son.   affected   /   effected

2. The ______ of less sleep was taking its toll.   affect   /   effect
Explanation. ’Affect’ is a verb. ‘Effect’ is a noun.

i.e. or e.g.?

1. Some animals are really cute, ______kittens and puppies. e.g. /   i.e.

2. The primary colours ______ .red, yellow and blue) are my favorites. e.g. /   i.e

Explanation. ’E.g.’ is used to give an example. ‘I.e.’ is used to give more information.

Hear or here?

1. It’s so loud in ______ hear. / here.

2. I can’t ______ you hear. / here.

Explanation. ‘Hear’ and ‘here’ are homophones, which means they sound the same. ‘Hear’ means ‘perceived by the ears’, whereas ‘here’ refers to a place.

Who or whom?

1. ______ did you see at the bar last night? Whom   / Who

2. I can’t think ______would have eaten all the doughnuts. whom   / who

Explanation. ’Whom’ is used when referring to the object of a sentence. Use ‘who’ when referring to the subject of a sentence. There’s a trick to help you remember: If you can answer with ‘he’, use ‘who’ (e.g. ‘he ate all the doughnuts’). If you can answer with ‘him’ use ‘whom’ (e.g. ‘I saw him at the bar’). Just remember that ‘him’ and ‘whom’ both end in the letter m.

Lay or lie?

1. Why don’t you go and ______ down? lay / lie

2. I’m going to ______he book on the table. lie / layt

Explanation. ’Lay’ requires a direct object (e.g. in the sentence above, the direct object is the table) and ‘lie’ does not.

Bored of, bored by, or bored with?

1. I’m bored ______ this. with / of

2. I’m bored ______ math clas. of / by

Explanation.Although ‘of’ is commonly used after ‘bored’, this is technically incorrect. Always use ‘with’ or ‘by’ in formal writing.