It is the issue that most irritates Britain's top companies: graduates with
good degrees who apply for senior positions but cannot spell or punctuate
sentences accurately. Today's 21-year-olds may consider “know-one” to be
spelt correctly, see no contradiction in “very unique” and scatter
apostrophes randomly across their writing. For some, even a first-class
degree in English is no guarantee that they can write a letter.
The Association of Graduate Recruiters revealed this summer that more than
half of its members had complained about a lack of “hard” skills, such as
writing, literacy and “the ability to communicate well”.
Universities are tackling their students' basic lack of spelling and paucity
of grammar rules by offering essay-writing classes and employing literacy
tutors. Some professors, weary of continually correcting their charges'
written errors, argue that “variant spellings” - otherwise known as mistakes
- should be accepted into common usage. They point out that standardised
spelling came about only in the 18th century, and indeed many words in early
dictionaries had several different spellings.
John Wells, president of the Spelling Society, is even calling for apostrophes
to be banned and insists that people should be allowed to spell logically
rather than memorise irregular words.
At Harrow School, the alma mater of Winston Churchill, however, they believe
that being able to spell and punctuate sentences correctly is one of the
most important legacies of an education. Without being able to construct a
paragraph accurately, you will not be able to communicate adequately in any
field.
According to Barnaby Lenon, Head Master of Harrow, it is perfectly possible to
attain an A* in English GCSE today and be weak at grammar and spelling.
Standards have slipped, he says, because more subjects have squeezed the
curriculum and teachers have not themselves been taught English grammar. But
he does not believe that standards are much lower than they were.
“In my gap year I had an office job with a friend who had just won a
scholarship to read English at Cambridge. He spelt 'receive' wrongly in the
first line of the first letter he was asked to write,” Lenon notes with
relish.
For the past five years, this public school has run a sixth-form literacy test
for all its pupils. The test emphasises that pupils cannot give up English
after GCSE and weeds out the weaker candidates who need tuition. Those who
make more than 20 errors are given extra lessons and are made to resit until
they pass.
Harrow School, lower sixth literacy test (one hour)
1. Spelling
Underline the correct spelling in the following groups of words:
(i) professor/proffessor/proffesor
(ii) committed/comited/commited
(iii) acomodation/accommodation/ accomodation
(iv) unneccessary/unneccesary/unnecessary
(v) embarrass/embarras/embarass
(vi) iridescence/irridescence/iridesence
(vii) similies/similes/simmiles
(viii) pusilanemous/pusillanemous/ pusillanimous
(ix) privilege/priviledge/privelige
(x) viccissitude/vicisitude/vicissitude
2. Vocabulary
Underline the correct italicized word in the following sentences:
(i) I always manage to loose/lose my pen.
(ii) The pub's license/licence has been withdrawn.
(iii) He had to put in a good deal of practise/practice.
(iv) Having read the sentence, the judge ordered the prisoner to be lead/led
to his cell.
(v) Please write on alternative/alternate lines.
(vi) I am loath/loathe to interfere.
(vii) They live in desperately straitened/straightened circumstances.
(viii) It's the principal/principle which counts.
(ix) He was sent to the shop to buy some stationery/stationary.
(x) He told the dog to lay/lie down at once.
(xi) A full pack comprises/is comprised of fifty-two cards.
(xii) The men are equally/equally as stupid.
(xiii) Between you and I/me there can never be misunderstanding.
(xiv) It was as if/like she was flying.
(xv) There are fewer/less applicants than there were last year.
(xvi) Anyone who sees this film will find their/his/her hair standing
on end.
(xvii) Neither was/were present yesterday.
(xviii) Each of them have/has strong points.
(xix) He would have/of done better to seek advice.
(xx) The crew were/was working hard.
3. Apostrophes
Add apostrophes where needed in the following sentences:
(i) Im sure I said its a four oclock start.
(ii) In two weeks time they intend to set off on an hours hike.
(iii) Weve always enjoyed both the local Womens Institutes parties.
(iv) Its time the cat was given its food, isnt it?
(v) For pitys sake, remember its only a game!
(vi) Whos going to be deterred by a few drops of rain?
(vii) The sheeps wool hung in snags on the hedge which enclosed them.
(viii) The childrens delight was greater than ours.
(ix) St Marys steeple is its crowning glory.
(x) Ones need for wealth decreases as times winged chariot draws near.
4. Further punctuation
Write a comma or a full stop beneath the *:
(i) MY MAIN HOBBY IS FISHING * MY SECOND HOBBY IS PLAYING THE TROMBONE.
(ii) WILLIAM * PLEASE COLLECT IN THE WORK.
(iii) SHE SANG WELL * THIS WAS SURPRISING.
(iv) JOHN SWIMS WELL * HOWEVER, MARY HATES THE WATER.
Add full stops and capital letters to:
(v) George was quite clear that he needed to work harder if he was going to
achieve the grades he required it was quite possible to get three A grades
his sister had got two As and a B and she was far dimmer than he was
Add commas to:
(vi) For lunch the school offered lamb chops pasta baked potatoes yogurt
trifle and fresh fruit.
(vii) James the talented but lazy cricketer never seemed to score as highly as
the others.
(viii) Henry walked up to his room opened the door ripped off his clothes and
dived into bed.
(ix) Sally however always wanted to watch television rather than do her
homework.
Add semi-colons to:
(x) I have porridge for breakfast every day it sees me through to lunch.(xi)
The boy's mother wrote to the Head Master to complain about table manners
Harrovians ought to know how to hold a knife and fork.
(xii) At Harrow Winston Churchill was dreadful at Latin but he learnt to write
English properly we sometimes forget that he won the Nobel Prize for
Literature
5. Proof reading
Write out the following statement, correcting any mistakes in spelling,
punctuation and grammar and organising it into paragraphs:
I belive that phisical fittness is crucialy important and I devote a great
deal of time to playing different sports at School. I used to play in the
sunningdale First XV at rugby, First XI in cricket and first VIII for
Tennis. This ment that, after my arival at Harrow, I was able to make a
usful comitment to all these variuos activitys. Its vital to contribute to
your boarding house in many different ways: akademic culturel and artistic
as well as sporting. If you have a quite personallity or are somthing of a
walflower, then becoming involved will help you acheive greater self
conferdence. The affect of that will be to incraese your ability to settle
into the enviroment of Harrow School. The Harrow Cadets provide another
oportunity to contribute to life here, I think. You can join the Royal navy
or the Royal air Force Sections, the Army or the Royal marines. Although
becoming a Comando may have a romantic dashing ring to it, there are also
many other oppertunities in the Corps: equestrianism, shooting (full and
small boor), climing, sking and sailing, for instance. In the end, though, I
would advice you that how well you do in exams will decide which University
you will go to after the Sixth Form. Youll be expected to work hard and do
the best you can in youre As and A levels. Youll find that study at this
level requires a strong personnal committment to managing youre own time.
Whatever youre subject at University, though, I wish you luck in fullfilling
your ambition, be it to become a high court judge, the archbishop of
Cantarbury or to score a hat trick for England.
The answers
1 professor, committed, accommodation, unnecessary, embarrass,
iridescence, similes, pusillanimous, privilege, vicissitude
2 lose, licence, practice, led, alternate, loath, straitened,
principle, stationery, lie, comprises, equally, me, as if, fewer, his/her,
was, has, have, was
3 (i) I'm sure I said it's a four o'clock start.
(ii) In two weeks' time they intend to set off on an hour's hike.
(iii) We've always enjoyed both the local Women's Institutes' parties.
(iv) It's time the cat was given its food, isn't it?
(v) For pity's sake, remember it's only a game!
(vi) Who's going to be deterred by a few drops of rain?
(vii) The sheep's wool hung in snags on the hedge which enclosed them.
(viii) The children's delight was greater than ours.
(ix) St Mary's steeple is its crowning glory.
(x) One's need for wealth decreases as time's winged chariot draws near.
4 (i) MY MAIN HOBBY IS FISHING. MY SECOND HOBBY IS PLAYING THE TROMBONE.
(ii) WILLIAM, PLEASE COLLECT IN THE WORK.
(iii) SHE SANG WELL. THIS WAS SURPRISING.
(iv) JOHN SWIMS WELL. HOWEVER, MARY HATES THE WATER.
(v) George was quite clear that he needed to work harder if he was going to
achieve the grades he required. It was quite possible to get three A grades.
His sister had got two As and a B and she was far dimmer than he was.
(vi) For lunch the school offered lamb chops, pasta, baked potatoes, yogurt,
trifle and fresh fruit.
(vii) James, the talented but lazy cricketer, never seemed to score as highly
as the others.
(viii) Henry walked up to his room, opened the door, ripped off his clothes
and dived into bed.
(ix) Sally, however, always wanted to watch television rather than do her
homework.
(x) I have porridge for breakfast every day; it sees me through to lunch.
(xi) The boy's mother wrote to the Head Master to complain about table
manners; Harrovians ought to know how to hold a knife and fork.
(xii) At Harrow Winston Churchill was dreadful at Latin but he learnt to write
English properly; we sometimes forget that he won the Nobel Prize for
Literature.
5 I believe that physical fitness is crucially important and I devote a
great deal of time to playing different sports at school. I used to play in
the Sunningdale First XV at rugby, First XI in cricket and First VIII for
tennis. This meant that, after my arrival at Harrow, I was able to make a
useful commitment to all these various activities.
It's vital to contribute to your boarding house in many different ways:
academic, cultural and artistic, as well as sporting. If you have a quiet
personality or are something of a wallflower, then becoming involved will
help you achieve greater self-confidence. The effect of that will be to
increase your ability to settle into the environment of Harrow School.
The Harrow Cadets provide another opportunity to contribute to life here, I
think. You can join the Royal Navy or the Royal Air Force Sections, the Army
or the Royal Marines. Although becoming a Commando may have a romantic,
dashing ring to it, there are also many other opportunities in the Corps:
equestrianism, shooting (full and small bore), climbing, skiing and sailing,
for instance.
In the end, though, I would advise you that how well you do in exams will
decide which university you will go to after the Sixth Form. You'll be
expected to work hard and do the best you can in your AS and A levels.
You'll find that study at this level requires a strong personal commitment
to managing your own time. Whatever your subject at university, though, I
wish you luck in fulfilling your ambition, be it to become a High Court
judge, the Archbishop of Canterbury or to score a hat-trick for England.
"I now feel secure in the fact that I am a better grammarian then 95% of Americans."
I think you meant:
"I am a better grammarian THAN 95% of Americans."
Marie, Lydney, U.K.
Although educated in England, I have spent 20 years in the States. Having completed this test, where my only errors were spelling (which was always deplorable!) and those which one could argue were cultural (AS?), I now feel secure in the fact that I am a better grammarian then 95% of Americans.
Ruth Bonnet, Los Angeles, CA
Good Lord, I'm an American and I aced it. I was educated when literate writing still counted.
Karen, Bronx, NY, USA
Do they get marked down on the commas if they come from Oxford?
Sheila, Bristol,
I also did well on the test because I enjoy the English language. I made a couple of silly mistakes.
What pleases me the most is that I successfully completed the test without a stick up my backside.
If I have made a mistake in this comment, I don't want to know.
Jay Brewer, Oundle, UK
The question about the Women's Institutes' parties is ambiguous. It appears there are two Institutes that each have a party, however it could be interpreted that there is only one Institute but that it has two parties, in which case the apostrophes would be different. How is the student to know?
Eve, Malvern, UK
Melanie, it should be "fewer" children, not "less". ;-)
Laura, London,
Julia Wood , Sheep is plural, so the ' goes before the s. Same as children. The worst misuse is, e.g. potatoe's.I do note the conditional misuse, remember 'if you WERE the only girl in the world and I WERE the only boy'. I never had trouble with the apostrophe etc as I studied Latin O level.
Phocas, Surbiton, England
Julia - 'fewer' children
Melanie - there is no such word as 'sheeps'...
Carlo, London,
In 3 (vi) there is no indication as to whether there is one sheep or more, so either answer would be correct; children, however, is a plural, so the ' goes before the s.
Why use his/her instead of "their" a collective term that covers the meaning regardless of singular or plural? Very PC!
Mark Potter, Calne, UK
Sheep and children are already plural therefore in this example the apostrophe is before the 's' indicating the possession of the wool/delight.
Hannah, London,
I'm sorry, Julie Wood, but you are wrong. Both sheep and children have irregular plurals, which means they don't take an 's', so the apostrophe comes before the 's' in the possessive.
This is a very basic rule which one hopes you would have learnt some time around the age of 10 or 11.
Jessica Salazar, Sheffield, UK
Julia,
"Children" and "Sheep" are mass-nouns. This means that the apostrophe does NOT go after the "s", since both "children" and "sheep" already imply more than one "child", and potentially, more than one "sheep".
I'm sure you know the old English saying - "those in glass houses... "
James, London, UK
Julia Wood - sheep is the plural form,of sheep, and children is the plural form of child. The 's denotes possession. The apostrophe would only go after the s if it had also been used to denote a plural form......which in these two examples is not the case.
Cathy Clark, Singapore,
Julia - you are incorrect, 3 vi should be sheep's and 3 vii children's as sheep and children are already plural and the 's solely indicates the possessive.
Melanie - And they wonder why less children...... should be And they wonder why fewer children ....
First take the plank....
Andrew, London, UK
Julia Wood, Auckland
Sheep and children are both plural already, so the apostrophe goes before the s in each case.
Melanie, Leeds
It should be "fewer children"
Dave, Andover, UK
Surely in No.3 (vi) sheeps wool is plural as also in (vii) childrens delight - so the apostrophe goes after the s! Wake up Harrow! A very basic test methinks.
Julia Wood, Auckland, New Zealalnd
And they wonder why less children carry on with foreign languages! If we can't even use our own language correctly, what hope do we have of mastering another? Shocking.
Melanie, Leeds,
I did very well in this test but I am a 62 year old Maltese who learned English the hard way in a state school with a lot of grammar and literature thrown in and one English teacher making us read the Sunday Times.
Anthony Charles, M'Skala, Malta
Blimey - I thought my literacy was pretty hot but I fell down on a few of these with my use of the "Oxford comma". This should be compulsory!
Katy, Oxford,
I am surprised at 2.(xvi) Anyone who sees this film will find their/his/her hair standing on end. Even more surprised to read that the correct answer is "his/her". To use "their" in imitation of some other European languages may be thought unacceptable but "his/her" - really!
Julius, Melbourne, Australia
I frequently see errors in published writing, including national newspapers and books from major publishing houses. I can't help wondering whether anyone will notice or care in a few decades' time. I now regard it almost as a curse that my eye is inevitably drawn to every error on a page.
Meredith Tangle, London,
Surely, Mr Willcox, "..........if proof BE needed............"
Alice J McCabe, Doncaster, UK
Lol whut?! Srsly, U guys rly worried about fail english skilz?
If you are looking for what is responsible for this downward trend, you need only look at the very medium you post in (ironic isn't it?). Texting may have to bear some of the responsibility but it is the internet that most to blame :o)
Edward Nind, Edinburgh, Scotland
owned
chris hanson, washington,
The paragraph in the end is very weak, in terms of content, grammar and editorial. If it was written and edited by a professional at Harrow; no wonder the graduating students are criticized for his/her writing skills or lack there of.
Simone (Teacher), New York City, United States
Rachel, as good as your grammar is, perhaps it's time to brush up on your use of apostrophes?
Victor , Weybridge , UK
I did well on the test, but then, I went to a private girls school and received a good education. I recently had to do a test like this for a job and the company couldn't believe how well I had done. In fact, the test was very similar to the entrance exam which I took to get into my school at 11.
Rachel Bochenski, Chester,
I hadn't realised that the concept of mood had been completely abandoned. In section 2, question xiv, the second "was" is subordinate to the first and should surely be subjugated, giving: "It was as if she /were/ flying."
I'm not a graduate, just pedantic, so perhaps not qualified to comment.
Marcus Millar, Twickenham, UK
Let's hope other schools will follow Harrow School's lead. Recent articles in The Times provide proof, if proof is needed, that the standard of English is deteriorating. Suggestions like those of Professor Wells do nothing to improve the situation, in my opinion.
Dallas Willcox (Simply Words Editing Services), Benfleet, England