View Full Version : The Commonly Confused Words Test
roxanna
05-07-2006, 12:22 AM
proof that all strippers cant even string a sentence toghther :p
BrunetteGoddess
05-07-2006, 12:58 AM
KEEKEEN,TAKE THIS TEST!I am tired of arguing about this with you.
All Good Things
05-07-2006, 11:29 AM
I don't think #35 is correct.
You're right, it's not. It's why some of us were nearly perfect but decided to be right instead. ;)
The problem is that the subordinate clause needs a subject for that second verb construction, and that subject must be in the nominative case.
This is a linguistic phenomenon know as "overcorrection," or the tendency to choose what appears to be the less obvious choice because it "sounds" more formal or correct. It's what causes people to confuse the nominative and accusative cases in pronouns in English. Long ago, English was an inflected language (like German and Russian are today) where all the word endings changed based on prepositional usage.
His explanation that focused exclusively on prepositions (and his suggestion of a direct and "simple" correlation in all contexts) got him in trouble. Also, his citations didn't go into nearly enough detail to cover the subject.
Having said all that, every good linguist will tell you that usage trumps rules in all contexts (well, every descriptivist will say that -- I've always thought the prescriptivists were still carrying too much baggage from damaged grammatical childhoods). But it is amusing that a test designed to test for commonly-encountered errors has at least one demonstrable error and another question with answers too heavily dependent on preference.
evan_essence
05-07-2006, 08:04 PM
The problem is that the subordinate clause needs a subject for that second verb construction, and that subject must be in the nominative case.Subordinate clause, yes, that's the term I was trying to think of, but couldn't. Thanks for nailing that down. I feel so much better now.
Having said all that, every good linguist will tell you that usage trumps rules in all contexts (well, every descriptivist will say that -- I've always thought the prescriptivists were still carrying too much baggage from damaged grammatical childhoods).Yes, I file some of those examples under "who gives a sh*t" what the correct answer is. Many of them are important because deviating from standard usage may produce negative results for the speaker/writer. But the distinction between who and whom is so confusing that I don't think it's realistic for people to practice the more traditional rules anymore. When everyone's violating the traditional usage, and even the rule keepers don't agree on a complicated sentence construction, it's time to abandon any attempt to prescribe the old way as correct. On the other hand, there are definite contexts in which practicing picture perfect (aka standard) grammar and usage will get you further than not. Use whatever doesn't call attention to itself in the given context.
-Ev
scarlett_vancouver
05-08-2006, 12:28 AM
Oh please, don't take my perfect score away, lol.
If the verb "will listen" weren't present (She complains to _____), then the word that fills the blank would be the object of the preposition, and therefore, would be "him" or "whomever."
Googled (don't know if it's accurate, haven't checked):
I think I see where some of the confusion of the
whoever/whomever issue is coming from. The question in
the answer key differs from the question on the test itself.
On the answer key, they say:
35. "She complains to whomever will listen."
This is incorrect, and should be "whoever."
But on the quiz itself, the question is actually:
35. "She complains to whomever she can find."
And in that sentence, "whomever" is indeed correct.
scarlett_vancouver
05-08-2006, 12:41 AM
Ok, I checked, this is the question:
"35. She complains to __________ she can find.
whoever
whomever
Either a or b
Neither a nor b "
You're right, it's not. It's why some of us were nearly perfect but decided to be right instead.
Bwahahaha
All Good Things
05-08-2006, 04:08 PM
Ok, I checked, this is the question:
"35. She complains to __________ she can find.
This is a no-brainer "whomever," of course. But it's not the question that always comes up, it seems. I recall the construction Ev and I were discussing last time I took the test, and apparently it survived into the answer key somehow.
evan_essence
05-12-2006, 12:56 AM
"35. She complains to __________ she can find.Oh, aha!! That 'splains everything. Yes, I didn't return to the test to see it or my answers; I was merely reading through the answer key's explanations and assumed it was the same as the test. I doubt if I got that question wrong, with it being worded that way.
-Ev