Year-End Quiz: 2023
The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation
Year-End Quiz: 2023
As we learned together in 2023, we can explore a lot of grammatical ground during twelve months. Between January and December, we reviewed subjects from stative verbs to nominal numbers to anastrophe.
We look forward to continuing more linguistic review and discovery with you in 2024. Before we move farther down the trail, we’ll first find out what you recall from your most recent mission to be an even more precise and eloquent communicator.
The 2023 master quiz includes twenty-five items comprising topics from different GrammarBook articles throughout the year. Consider each question, determine your answers, and check them against the answer key. Each question’s answer includes a link to the source article for your reference as well.
We hope you find the quiz fun and challenging, and most of all, that it proves how much you have grown as a thoughtful writer.
Jumbo Pop Quiz: 2023 in Twenty-five Questions
1. Punctuate the following correctly according to the vocative case.
I’m speaking to you Christopher and you Tianna. I told you not to play with honey in the sandbox.
2. Identify any predicate adjectives.
You seem determined to excel at this. If you maintain your approach, I believe you are certain for final-round selection.
3. Change the verb in parentheses to the present perfect progressive.
Petra (study) astronomy since she was a child.
4. Identify the stative verbs.
Fatima thinks the solution is correct and has a stance on the issue, but she won’t share it until the rest of the data is available.
5. Identify any qualifiers and intensifiers and determine if they are necessary where they appear.
Raheem is responding rather slowly to the emails Corretta has been sending. It’s pretty clear he has a few things he’s not really ready to discuss.
6. Determine if the sentence includes proper apposition. If so, leave it as it is. If not, include proper punctuation and identify if the appositive is restrictive or nonrestrictive.
They have filled the open medical-school teaching position by hiring Dorothy Clavier a longtime doctor of pediatrics.
7. Identify the subjects and the verb that agrees.
Roger or Hyun [review / reviews] and [approve / approves] the permit applications filed for parades.
8. [There’s / There are] a lot of red on your suspenders.
9. If the following includes a sentence modifier, identify it. If it doesn’t include one, leave it as it is.
Wendell will strike the match, which will light the first of the chain of candles for the ceremony.
10. Determine if the word only is properly placed. If so, leave it as it is. If not, move it to the correct position.
Jessica has only been living there for two years.
11. Identify any nominal numbers.
If you will be attending to 150 people in three different banquet rooms, I suggest serving them wine from bin 12 instead of bin 19.
12. Identify any affixes.
You say the preheated soup leaves you unimpressed. Yet you haven’t even tried it. I believe you will find it tasty.
13. Identify any words that show the use of apocope.
According to Liz’s obit, she loved to go to the zoo and the cinema.
14. Change the following to a cleft sentence using the lead word provided.
Nomusa finished writing her seventh book this year. (what)
15. Choose the correct treatment according to the general rule of hyphenating well.
I find Patricia to be an elegant and very [well spoken / well-spoken] person.
16. Identify the 1) the verbal or verbal phrase, 2) its form (gerund, participle, infinitive), and 3) its part of speech (noun, adverb, or adjective).
Caleb tuned up the snowblower to prepare for the approaching blizzard.
17. Choose the correct word according to its sentence context.
I think we have a real [issue / problem] with that meteor that’s heading our way.
18. Form the past perfect progressive with the verb provided.
The faucet (leak) for at least a week before Caitlin fixed it.
19. Is the following a loose sentence or a periodic sentence?
Grace continued practicing, refusing to stop or to quit.
20. Baptiste has been playing polo since he was twelve years old.
This sentence is an example of:
a. Simple aspect
b. Progressive aspect
c. Perfect aspect
d. Perfect progressive aspect
21. Determine if single quotation marks are being used correctly. If not, correct the punctuation.
“It’s like what President Lincoln said: ‘The best thing about the future is it that it comes one day at a time.’ ”
22. Identify whether the sentence includes anastrophe (yes or no).
I know I must go through steady, mounting snow.
23. Identify whether the sentence is cumulative or periodic.
Because Bart lost the leash, we cannot walk the dog.
24. Choose the correct usage according to daily formal writing.
[Here is / Here are] most of the baseball cards Shane had been planning to trade.
25. Place brackets where needed.
(For more information on growing forty-foot sunflowers, refer to Hydroponic Secrets Unleashed 2nd edition.)
Jumbo Pop Quiz Answers
1. I’m speaking to you, Christopher, and you, Tianna. I told you not to play with honey in the sandbox.
What Is the Vocative Case in English? 1-18
2. You seem determined to excel at this. If you maintain your approach, I believe you are certain for final-round selection.
What Is a Predicate Adjective? 1-25
3. Petra has been studying astronomy since she was a child.
Present Perfect Progressive (Continuous) Tense 2-1
4. Fatima thinks the solution is correct and has a stance on the issue, but she won’t share it until the rest of the data is available.
What Is a Stative Verb? 2-15
5. Roni is responding rather slowly to the emails Corretta has been sending. It’s pretty clear he has a few things he’s not really ready to discuss. None are necessary
What Are Qualifiers and Intensifiers? 3-1
6. They have filled the open medical-school teaching position by hiring Dorothy Clavier, a longtime doctor of pediatrics. Add a comma; nonrestrictive
What Is Apposition in Grammar? 3-22
7. Roger or Hyun reviews and approves the permit applications filed for parades.
Compound Subject: Definition and Examples 4-12
8. There’s a lot of red on your suspenders.
Should We Use There Is and There Are? 4-19
9. No sentence modifier
What Is a Sentence Modifier? 4-26
10. Jessica has been living there for only two years.
How to Use Only Correctly 5-3
11. If you will be attending to 150 people in three different banquet rooms, I suggest serving them wine from bin 12 instead of bin 19.
Nominal Number: Definition and Examples 5-10
12. You say the preheated soup leaves you unimpressed. Yet you haven’t even tried it. I believe you will find it tasty.
What Is an Affix? 5-24
13. According to Liz‘s obit, she loved to go to the zoo and the cinema.
Apocope Definition and Examples 6-7
14. What Nomusa finished writing this year was her seventh book.
What Is a Cleft Sentence? 6-21
15. I find Patricia to be an elegant and very well spoken person.
Are We Hyphenating Well? 7-5
16. Caleb tuned up the snowblower to prepare for the approaching blizzard. infinitive, adverb
Verbals: Definitions & Examples 7-12
17. I think we have a real problem with that meteor that’s heading our way.
Tackling More Tricky Word Choices: Issue vs. Problem 8-2
18. The faucet had been leaking for at least a week before Caitlin fixed it.
Past Perfect Progressive 8-23
19. Grace continued practicing, refusing to stop or to quit. loose sentence
Periodic Sentence: Definition and Examples 9-13
20. d. Perfect progressive aspect
What Is Aspect in Grammar? 9-27
21. “It’s like what President Lincoln said: ‘The best thing about the future is it that it comes one day at a time.’ ” Single quotations are correct
Single Quotation Marks: Uses and Examples 10-4
22. No anastrophe
Anastrophe 10-25
23. Because Bart lost the leash, we cannot walk the dog. periodic sentence
Cumulative Sentence: Definition and Examples 11-1
24. Here are most of the baseball cards Shane had been planning to trade.
Here Is vs. Here Are 11-8
25. (For more information on growing forty-foot sunflowers, refer to Hydroponic Secrets Unleashed [2nd edition].)
Using Brackets: Changing a Quote and More 12-6
If the article or the existing discussions do not address a thought or question you have on the subject, please use the "Comment" box at the bottom of this page.
I find your articles so enlightening! Even though I daily teach English as a second language to students here in Perú, I find your information accurate and informative. I often develop classes around the emails I get from you.
Thank you so much.
BTW, I bought your grammar book several years ago, and use it often to answer questions, but I find these emails stimulate areas of English that I didn’t even know I didn’t know.