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Quiz about Its the Pain in the Neck English Teacher
Quiz about Its the Pain in the Neck English Teacher

It's the Pain in the Neck English Teacher~ Quiz


Most of these sentences sound correct but to the purist of the English language, they ain't... I mean, are not. Do you know why?

A multiple-choice quiz by DonTozzi. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
DonTozzi
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
371,634
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
625
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. What is wrong with the following sentence? "I was suffering so much that I self-medicated myself!" Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Which word is misused in the following comment? "My dad experienced symptoms of the flu on his birthday. Now I'm exhibiting signs of the flu on my birthday. Isn't that ironic?" Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. Here's one that my students often get wrong: "When you compare Joe and Tom, Tom is the healthiest." What was wrong with that sentence? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. What's wrong with the following sentence? "Between the three of us, I think Jane looks a little pale." Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Can you find the common error in the following comment? "Jerry is not as tall as Ben but he is taller then Bill. Therefore, Ben is the tallest of the three." Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. There's another often misused word in the following sentence: "When you're working as a waiter, people can be so abusive and impatient that you literally cry your eyes out." Which word was misused? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Public Enemy #1 for the Pain in the Neck English Teacher is the sports announcer. What is wrong with the following comment? "What a great defensive game we're watching. It's the end of the third period, and there's still no score!" Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. What is wrong with the grammar of the following sentence? "I don't care what the data says; two aspirin ingested at bedtime won't cure the common cold." Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Sometimes things look so right, you wonder how it can be wrong. Find the error in the following comment:
"The dog seemed bored, so I gave it it's rawhide bone to play with."
Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Although the following statement is VERY TRUE, it is also incorrect. What's wrong with it? "The Pain in the Neck English teacher is sagacious and handsome, tries to his upmost ability to impart his wisdom, and has no ulterior motives." Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. What is wrong with the following sentence? "I was suffering so much that I self-medicated myself!"

Answer: It is redundant

The independent clause is redundant. It should simply have been "I self-medicated" or, better yet, "I medicated myself." (You can't self-medicate somebody else, can you?) Now take two aspirin and avoid redundancies.
2. Which word is misused in the following comment? "My dad experienced symptoms of the flu on his birthday. Now I'm exhibiting signs of the flu on my birthday. Isn't that ironic?"

Answer: Ironic

This is not ironic; it is just a coincidence. Irony is one of the most misused words that I hear and read. Irony, basically, is when the opposite result of what was expected or intended occurs. It would have been ironic if the speaker had said, "I did everything I could so that I wouldn't catch the flu on my birthday. Ironically, I caught the worst flu I've ever had." Now, take two aspirin and stop misusing the word irony.
3. Here's one that my students often get wrong: "When you compare Joe and Tom, Tom is the healthiest." What was wrong with that sentence?

Answer: It should be "healthier" not "healthiest"

When using the comparative between two things, the "-er" suffix should be used. The "-est" suffix should be used when comparing three or more. Healthy, healthier, healthiest. Now take two aspirin and get healthier.
4. What's wrong with the following sentence? "Between the three of us, I think Jane looks a little pale."

Answer: It should be "Among" not "Between"

"Between" can only appear when only two things are involved. (Notice that "tw" appears in "two" and "between".) "Among" is to be used when more than two things are involved. Now, between you and me, two aspirin will put some color in Jane's cheeks.
5. Can you find the common error in the following comment? "Jerry is not as tall as Ben but he is taller then Bill. Therefore, Ben is the tallest of the three."

Answer: It should be "than" not "then"

"Than" is used for comparisons. "Then" indicates a time element or a sequence. One simple way to remember (at least it was a simple way when I was younger) was "When? Then?" The time element is common to both. Now take two aspirin. It's better than a kick in the head.
6. There's another often misused word in the following sentence: "When you're working as a waiter, people can be so abusive and impatient that you literally cry your eyes out." Which word was misused?

Answer: literally

Come on, now--you can't literally cry your eyes out. That would be messy. People can be abusive and impatient, though. "You're" is the correct contraction for "you are." Now take two aspirin before I literally scream at you.
7. Public Enemy #1 for the Pain in the Neck English Teacher is the sports announcer. What is wrong with the following comment? "What a great defensive game we're watching. It's the end of the third period, and there's still no score!"

Answer: There IS a score--it just happens to be zero to zero.

These same guys will also say that "It's a nothing-nothing game". Grrr. There IS something there: a zero. Just because "no score" and "nothing" have been used since sports broadcasting began, it doesn't mean they're grammatically correct. Now I need two aspirin.
8. What is wrong with the grammar of the following sentence? "I don't care what the data says; two aspirin ingested at bedtime won't cure the common cold."

Answer: It should be "the data say"

"Data" is the plural of "datum" and, therefore, should get the plural form "say". This same confusion occurs when people talk about "the media". "Media" is the plural of "medium". I don't care what the media and the data say--take those aspirin and hit the sack!
9. Sometimes things look so right, you wonder how it can be wrong. Find the error in the following comment: "The dog seemed bored, so I gave it it's rawhide bone to play with."

Answer: It should be "its", not "it's"

"It's" is the contraction for "it is". "Its", as used here, indicates the possessive. The bone belongs to the dog. This is confusing for some because the apostrophe does also indicate the possessive, as in "this is the dog's bone." Now, take two aspirin. It's good advice!
10. Although the following statement is VERY TRUE, it is also incorrect. What's wrong with it? "The Pain in the Neck English teacher is sagacious and handsome, tries to his upmost ability to impart his wisdom, and has no ulterior motives."

Answer: "upmost" is used incorrectly

Ah, I have tried my "utmost" to be beneficial to all of you! "Utmost" is believed to be derived from the Old English "out-most" meaning "highest", "limitless", etc. Now, if you try your utmost to improve your English language skills, you can stop taking aspirin. The Pain in the Neck English teacher is leaving now.
Source: Author DonTozzi

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor looney_tunes before going online.
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