Applying for the Grammar Police? Take this test!

Police officer woman

The real grammar police (the ones for whom a split infinitive is a sacrilege) would foam at the mouth over these sentences. Can you spot what would set them off (the “error’)?

Click on the link to jump to the corrections and explanations.

Neither of us are going to be there.

The data explains why the theory is wrong.

McDonald’s raised their prices again.

None of us like making mistakes.

Education in Europe is a lot cheaper than the United States.

 

Confused business man, short term memory loss

 

 

Would you worry about correcting these in your own writing? Why or why not?

 

funny cartoon policeman

 

Education in Europe is a lot cheaper than in the United States. (You can’t logically compare “education” to “the United States.” They’re not the same class of things.)

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funny cartoon policeman

None of us likes making mistakes. (“None” is also technically a singular pronoun.)

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funny cartoon policeman

McDonald’s raised its prices again. (“McDonald’s” is a collective noun; these are usually singular.)

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funny cartoon policeman

The data explain why the theory is wrong. (“Data” is the plural of “datum.”)

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funny cartoon policeman

Neither of us is going to be there. (“Neither” is considered a singular pronoun.)

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