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MustAsk Posted 12 years ago
Grammar
A specific wrong...
Hi,
"You're asking a specific wrong person"
Notice 'a' and 'wrong'
I have just recently seen this sentence and I personally would avoid such a construction. Is that sentence grammatically correct?
Thanks!
"You're asking a specific wrong person"
Notice 'a' and 'wrong'
I have just recently seen this sentence and I personally would avoid such a construction. Is that sentence grammatically correct?
Thanks!
Top answer
Grammatically its fine, although this particular example is a little ugly except in unusual circumstances. eg "Students, I would like to show you a specific wrong answer I received that displays all the issues I was telling you about" d
- Grammatically its fine, although this particular example is a little ugly except in unusual circumstances.
- eg "Students, I would like to show you a specific wrong answer I received that displays all the issues I was telling you about" d
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5 Answers
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Grammatically its fine, although this particular example is a little ugly except in unusual circumstances.
eg
"Students, I would like to show you a specific wrong answer I received that displays all the issues I was telling you about"
d
eg
"Students, I would like to show you a specific wrong answer I received that displays all the issues I was telling you about"
d
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I was looking up 'deduct' and found this on oald8.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com
"Ten points will be deducted for a wrong answer."
Shouldn't it be "the wrong answer" or better yet "an incorrect answer"? Is that a mistake?
Thanks!
"Ten points will be deducted for a wrong answer."
Shouldn't it be "the wrong answer" or better yet "an incorrect answer"? Is that a mistake?
Thanks!
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'the' wrong answer would be if he had mentioned a particular wrong answer:
"Question 3 is especially hard - 10 points will be deducted for the wrong answer"
here the wrong answer is specified (for question 3) - 'a' could also have also been used, as there will likely be many wrong answers possible for the question ("what colour is a sunflower?" there are many wrong answers: red, blue, purp
"Question 3 is especially hard - 10 points will be deducted for the wrong answer"
here the wrong answer is specified (for question 3) - 'a' could also have also been used, as there will likely be many wrong answers possible for the question ("what colour is a sunflower?" there are many wrong answers: red, blue, purp
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Thanks! Your answer is amazingly detailed! Just one more quick question. Does all of that apply to 'right' too?
"Ten points will be added for a right answer"
"Ten points will be added for a right answer"
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Yes you can say "a right answer".
There's a theoretical ambiguity with whether this means 10 points for each right answer, or 10 points if you get at least one answer right (ie 5 correct will only get you the same points as 1 correct). Obviously in this example it's expected that it's for each, but in other situations it could perhaps be ambiguous:
But it's nicer instead
There's a theoretical ambiguity with whether this means 10 points for each right answer, or 10 points if you get at least one answer right (ie 5 correct will only get you the same points as 1 correct). Obviously in this example it's expected that it's for each, but in other situations it could perhaps be ambiguous:
But it's nicer instead
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