08/2014 - The Grammar-Us Blog - Grammar-Us

I’m sad to say that it doesn’t take long at all for me to amass enough grammar errors to put together a quiz for my blog. Like cockroaches, they seem to come out of the woodwork! The following were either overheard or read. Take a look at them and see if you can spot the grammar error. Then, scroll down to check your grammar knowledge and see how these unfortunate errors could have been avoided.

1. I feel badly about it.

2. News reporter at the scene of a fatality accident: I’m here at the scene where the travesty occurred.

3. We’ll guide you through the entire process, to make sure it’s both simple and easy.

4. There’s not anybody that believed these actions was acceptable.

5. The actions of the dangerous criminals was beyond reckless and chaotic.

6. It was the most saddest thing I ever seen.

7. You can’t watch children close enough when they’re in the pool.

8. It was right in this general facility that we found it.

9. The individual needed to be tooken to the hospital.

10. I recommend it to anybody that has pain.

Have you pondered the preceding sentences and detected the errors? Great! Now, here are the explanations of what is wrong with them and how they could have been corrected:

1. I feel badly about it. Although it is true that, in most cases, adverbs modify verbs (“badly” is the adverb in the example), this particular sentence demonstrates one of those pesky exceptions to the rule that are, alas, so common in the English language. If you are using one of the “sense” verbs (feel, taste, smell, etc.), you must use an adjective to modify it. This is because you are describing the sense and how you felt about it, not how you performed the action. Therefore, the correct sentence is: I feel bad about it.

2. I’m here at the scene where the travesty occurred. This is an example of just plain poor vocabulary choice. “Travesty” means a false or distorted representation of something. Because the context in which the sentence was uttered was a report on a fatality auto accident, I doubt very much that the reporter meant to imply that there was something false or distorted about the scene behind her, which was a body bag being loaded into an ambulance. Instead, I believe she was attempting to impart to her audience that it was a tragedy that someone lost his or her life as a result of the accident. Therefore, she should have said: I’m here at the scene where the tragedy occurred.

3. We’ll guide you through the entire process, to make sure it’s both simple and easy. This statement comes straight from the department of redundancy department! The words “simple” and “easy” have identical definitions. Therefore, either one or the other would have been sufficient; using both is just plain redundant. If the ad agency that wrote this advertisement needed to fill a nanosecond of air time with a word, they should have chosen one that added something different to it.  Perhaps they could have said “simple and painless” or “straightforward and easy.”

4. There’s not anybody that believed these actions was acceptable. There are two errors in this sentence. No doubt, you picked up on one of them right away: the disagreement of the plural subject “actions” and the singular verb “was.” The second error is a bit more subtle, but no less important. It is the use of the word “that.” “That” refers to objects. When speaking about people, the word “who” should be used. Therefore, the correct sentence should have been: There’s not anybody who believed these actions were acceptable.

5. The actions of the dangerous criminals was beyond reckless and chaotic. This one is almost too easy! Since the speaker used the plural subject (“actions”), the verb must agree.  Therefore, the correct sentence should have been: The actions of the dangerous criminals were beyond reckless and chaotic.

6. It was the most saddest thing I ever seen. This is another sentence in which two errors are present. The first is the use of “most saddest.” The word “saddest” already has “most” built into it.  “Saddest” means “most sad”! Additionally, this poor speaker also used the incorrect verb form of “see.” The correct sentence would have been: It was the saddest thing I ever saw.

7. You can’t watch children close enough when they’re in the pool. In this sentence, the speaker is trying to impart how you should watch your children when they’re in the pool. Because she was modifying the action verb “watch,” she needed to use an adverb. Therefore, the correct sentence should have been: You can’t watch your children closely enough when they’re in the pool.  Alternatively, she could have said: You can’t watch your children too closely when they’re in the pool.

8. It was right in this general facility that we found it. Like sentence #2 above, this is another instance in which the speaker’s vocabulary failed him. The sentence implies that he was trying to describe the area in which the object was found, not the “space or equipment necessary for doing something,” which is the definition of “facility.” Therefore, the correct sentence would have been: It was right in this general vicinity that we found it. Also, I believe the word "that" should be replaced with "where," making the sentence read: It was right in this general vicinity where we found it.

9. The individual needed to be tooken to the hospital. This is my favorite of all of this week’s grammar goofs, because it is so obviously wrong! There is no such word as “tooken”! The correct sentence would be: The individual needed to be taken to the hospital.

10. I recommend it to anybody that has pain. This sentence and sentence #4 above have the misuse of the word “that” in common. I cannot repeat it enough: When referring to a person, use the word “who.” “That” refers to objects!

I hope you enjoyed this week’s grammar goof quiz and spotted the errors easily. Unfortunately, I fear it won’t be long until I have another batch of grammar errors to present for your reading enjoyment.  Stay tuned!