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Grammar test results

James Mallet | 11:00 UK time, Wednesday, 19 November 2008

Well done to those of you who attempted our Newswatch grammar test. Between you, you managed to spot all the deliberate mistakes we put in - though no doubt there will continue to be disputes over some of the grammatical rules involved. If you got all of them, you did better than Breakfast presenters Bill Turnbull and Sian Williams, who scored 19 between them; Defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt (18); Newsnight's political editor Michael Crick (14); and the former Education correspondent Sue Littlemore (12). Here are the errors:

"said she is leaving" should be "said she was leaving"
"her family are growing up" should be "her family is growing up"
"momentarily" - "in a moment"
"there's no surprises" - "there are no surprises"
"between you and I" - "between you and me"
"Number Ten were trying" - "Number Ten was trying"
"mitigate against" - "militate against"
"in affect" - "in effect"
"partner with" - "partner"
"inferred" - "implied"
"effectively" - "in effect"
"none of his other ministers are" - "none of his other ministers is"
"try and move" - "try to move"
"one less opponent" - "one fewer opponent"
"fulsome" - "enthusiastic"
"ministers sung" - "ministers sang"
"Number Ten refutes" - "Number Ten denies"
"bored of" - "bored with"
"enormity of the subject" - "significance of the subject"
"disinterested" - "uninterested"

Grammar test - your turn

James Mallet | 12:42 UK time, Monday, 17 November 2008

Those of you who saw five ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ presenters and correspondents bravely attempting the grammar test we set them on last weekend's Newswatch might like to see how you fare yourselves. Remember, the journalists scored between 12 and 19 out of a possible 20.

The test is in the form of a fictitious 'two-way' or conversation between a presenter and a correspondent, so it's designed to be heard, not read. It contains what we think are 20 deliberate mistakes, though there are, of course, disputes over the rules involved in some of the words or phrases. Here it is - good luck!

Presenter:The Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, said she is leaving her job - the second ministerial resignation in just over a week. Ms Kelly says it's a hard decision but her family are growing up and she wants to spend more time with her children. We'll be joined by her momentarily but first, our political correspondent, Nick Robinson, is here. Nick, is there more to this than meets the eye?

Correspondent: Ruth Kelly asked to leave the cabinet several months ago - so in a way, there's no surprises here. But what is odd is the way the news has been broken: in the early morning, before her conference speech. Between you and I, it looks like No 10 were trying to mitigate against a dramatic departure - in affect, putting out a spoiler.

Presenter: It had been rumoured that Ruth Kelly might be the leader of a mass resignation or at least, partner with one other minister - is that no longer a possibility?

Correspondent: You're right - one minister in particular, inferred to me that he would be off but has since changed his mind. While he'd be loath to admit it, the current financial crisis has effectively done the PM a favour. None of his other ministers are planning to try and move against his or her leader at such a crucial time and so no, I don't think he'll have to face up to a revolt. Meanwhile, he has one less opponent in the cabinet, so Mr Brown's position may even be stronger as a result of this, particularly if his speech receives fulsome praise.

Presenter: Is the subject of the leadership likely to receive less attention, then?

Correspondent: Well, I wouldn't go that far. Ministers sung from the same hymn sheet in public but behind the scenes at conference, it was a different story. There certainly are people who say Mr Brown's not the right man to lead Labour into the next general election - an assertion that No 10 refutes, of course. The public might be bored of speculation but the question of Gordon Brown's leadership is not likely to go away, given the enormity of the subject, no matter how many people are disinterested in it.

Grammar test

James Mallet | 12:45 UK time, Thursday, 13 November 2008

Each week on , complaints come and go from members of the public about what some see as mistaken news priorities, bias, inaccuracy, or trivialisation. But what remains constant, and what seems to elicit the ire of viewers more than anything else, is one topic: sloppy grammar. Everyone seems to have their personal bugbear, be it the use of "less" instead of "fewer", the split infinitive, or the use of a plural noun with a singular verb. And many feel that standards have slipped in recent years.

We thought we'd put this to the test, and invited a number of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ journalists to demonstrate their grammatical expertise - or otherwise - on camera. Perhaps surprisingly, five presenters or correspondents were brave enough to take up the challenge: spotting 20 deliberate grammatical errors which we'd inserted in a mock conversation between a presenter and a correspondent.

Bill Turnbull and Sian WilliamsWedged into an old school desk under hot lights, they all felt the pressure. Breakfast presenters Bill Turnbull and Sian Williams took part as a team of two, but disagreed over whether to turn a "less" into a "fewer". Newsnight's Michael Crick admitted he received frequent e-mails from viewers correcting his grammar. Defence correspondent Caroline Wyatt was concerned about disgracing her old school English teacher. And Sue Littlemore complained that expectations were high for someone who's been reporting on Education for the past 10 years, saying that you wouldn't expect a Health correspondent to be able to perform surgery.

The results weren't quite as clear as we'd expected. One journalist spotted a mistake we didn't think we'd made. Another sent us evidence from the Oxford University Press that the noun "family" could take a plural verb instead of a singular. There was debate over phrases which were grammatically correct, but simply sounded wrong when you spoke them out loud. And anyway, if we're all used to hearing phrases like "to boldly go", is it just pedantic to object?

Our guinea-pigs spotted between 12 and 19 of the 20 mistakes - and on this week's programme you can see who scored what. So as not to spoil the surprise, after the programme's shown I'll put the questions themselves up here so you can see how you would do.

Newswatch is on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ News Channel at 2045 on Friday 14 November, and 0745 on Saturday 15 November on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One.

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