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grammar nazis on here


peanuts

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Although polar bears look after their cubs, they’re not animals that like living in groups out there in the Arctic.

 

This was given as a correct answer, but it's clumsy at best and misleading at worst. The problem is this construction, "they're not animals that like..." The "not" is in the wrong place.

 

What about this instead?

 

Although polar bears look after their cubs, they do not like living in groups out there in the Arctic.

 

That sentence is also slightly problematic. The phrase "out there in the Arctic" is possibly superfluous and possibly misleading, because it infers places other than the Arctic where polar bears like to live in groups. I don't know whether that's true, but the inference is there. I'd either put "out there in the Arctic" somewhere else or leave it out.

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That sentence is also slightly problematic. The phrase "out there in the Arctic" is possibly superfluous and possibly misleading, because it infers places other than the Arctic where polar bears like to live in groups. I don't know whether that's true, but the inference is there. I'd either put "out there in the Arctic" somewhere else or leave it out.

Bet I've made a basic error in that last post.

 

Assuming this trait is peculiar to polar bears in the Arctic, the words "out there" are superfluous.

 

Although polar bears look after their cubs, they do not like living in groups in the Arctic.

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This was given as a correct answer, but it's clumsy at best and misleading at worst. The problem is this construction, "they're not animals that like..." The "not" is in the wrong place.

 

What about this instead?

 

 

 

That sentence is also slightly problematic. The phrase "out there in the Arctic" is possibly superfluous and possibly misleading, because it infers places other than the Arctic where polar bears like to live in groups. I don't know whether that's true, but the inference is there. I'd either put "out there in the Arctic" somewhere else or leave it out.

 

I think the idea was to have "they're" in the sentence. It isn't in your version.

 

I got 9. I guessed at most! I've always been quite good with spelling and grammar, but I don't have a clue what half of those questions mean!!!!

 

Edit..... Spelling. Well it would be wouldn't it!

Edited by BlueJazzer
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13. Although I had to guess what a gerund was.

 

I struggle when given the proper descriptions and terms in grammar, but I seem to do well at spotting right or wrong in examples.

 

That's what it's about. Talk of gerunds and prepositions is just grammarian cock-waving. (Small cocks, vigorous waving.) Even the concepts of right and wrong are problematic. Clear or misleading - even potentially misleading - is the safer and more pragmatic distinction when it comes to your use of English.

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I think the idea was to have "they're" in the sentence. It isn't in your version.

 

I got 9. I guessed at most! I've always been quite good with spelling and grammar, but I don't have a clue what half of those questions mean!!!!

 

Edit..... Spelling. Well it would be wouldn't it!

 

Furry muff. They could've chosen a better example - one that wasn't so try-hard and preposterous. That's the Grauniad all over though.

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