Is the procedure correct, please?

Question

Is there anything wrong in the procedure of the following game, please?

Procedure: participants/players be around a table. Upside down cards are distributed among them. The game starts: a question is made and the players - one at a time - turn their cards and put them on the table. When the answer appears, the first to touch the card wins a point. If someone touches the wrong answer, the point goes to all the other participants. At the end the player with more points is the winner.

By the way if this game exists in the United States, what is it called there?

Many thanks for the attention,

Selena

Mr Wordy · Accepted Answer

There are some problems with grammar and choice of words that need fixing, but, more fundamentally, I don't really understand how the game is supposed to work.

Are you saying that the answer to a question "appears" when a card is turned over? Are these ordinary playing cards (see

), and, if so, what sort of questions do you have in mind? Or are they special cards with answers to various questions written on them or something? Or perhaps you just mean that the "question" is, say, the number of a card, such as "three" (in which case "question" and "answer" are not the right words)? I don't get it.

Also, I would have thought that the person turning over the card would have a huge advantage in being the first person to touch it. In fact, he or she is already touching it.

Anonymous · Answer

Hello, Mr. Wordy

What I am intending to say is: let's suppose that a teacher wants to check a new vocabulary. A vocabulary about fruits, colors and nationalities. So previoulsy, at home, e.g. he cuts some small cards from a cardboard and in each card he writes only one word (the answer). So in some cards he writes "apple, "banana", "watermelon", in others he writes "red", "blue", "yellow", "Chinese", "Dutch", "Japanese", German etc... The number of cards depends on the number of participants and questions that will be made.

Procedure: In class the teacher asks the students to be around a table. Then he distributes the same quantity of those cards among the participants. All the cards must be upside down, because the students can't see what is written on them.

The game starts with the teacher asking a question or giving a statement that must be completed. E.g. The teacher says: "Who was born in Germany is ... or " Yellow" + (plus) "green" is ...... (the answer is "blue". At this moment all the players - one at a time - turns over his card on the table. Let's suppose the first student turns over his card and there it is written "red". Well "red" isn't the answer I am looking for. So, nobody should touch the card. Right after the second, the third and all the other students at their time,turn over their cards on the table till the required answer 'appears'.

Let's suppose the 4th student turns over his card on the table and the answer "blue" appears (I mean the answer is written there on the back of the 4th student card), so at this moment all the students must be fast and try "to touch " this answer first.

The first student in the circle to touch the correct answer wins a point. But if someone touches a wrong answer, this point goes to all the other participants. At the end of the game, the student with more points is the winner.

Well I hope you could understand as this game is played so that you can help me in case of some grammar corrections. Also if this game exists in the United States, I would like to know its name.

Many thanks for your attention and help. Hope to hear from you soon.

Have a nice day,

Selena

Khoff · Answer

Okay, now that I understand what you are describing, here are a few suggestions. The kind of cards you are talking about, for practicing vocabulary words or simple math facts, are called "flash cards." When you put a card on the table so that no one can see what is written on the card, it is "face down," not "upside down." You should say, "Someone who was born in Germany is ..." or
"A person who was born in Germany is ..." (not just "Who was born in Germany is ...).And yellow plus blue equals green (not yellow plus green equals blue). The "primary colors" are red, blue and yellow.

Mr Wordy · Answer

I see. Sorry, I started out thinking it was an ordinary card game (that is, a game played with playing cards) and I was thrown from that point on. Some corrections/suggestions:

Procedure: A set of cards is prepared, on which are written the answers to various questions. Players sit around a table and the cards are dealt to them face down. The game starts: a question is asked and each player -- [dash, not hyphen] one at a time -- turns over one of his or her cards and places it face up in the middle of the table . When the correct answer appears, the first to touch the card wins a point. If someone touches a wrong answer, a point is given to all the other players. At the end of the game, the player with the most points is the winner.

I still do not understand how the person turning over the card (who is already touching it when it is revealed) avoids automatically winning in the event of a correct answer (or, if the rule is applied strictly, automatically being penalised in the event of an incorrect answer). Perhaps the person turning over the card isn't otherwise active in that round?

Christanford · Answer

I have played a similar game, which is quite popular in Hong Kong. Yes, the person turning over the card has a huge advantage, so he is supposed to turn it over very quickly, which leaves him no time to think.
To make it more challenging, the answers involve calculation.

Anonymous · Answer

Hi, Khoff!

Thank you for helping me. By the way why is it wrong to say that "the cards are distributed upside down"? I mean what's the difference between upside down and face down?

And the correct way of writing the sentence above is: "The cards are distributed faced down"?

Thanks again,

Selena

Anonymous · Answer

Mr. Wordy,

Thank you very much for your reply. Answering your question, when a student turns over his card on the table, he previously doesn't know if it has or not the required/correct answer. Because of this detail, any participant has the chance to touch the card in the event of a correct answer. But of course everybody must be very fast, otherwise the student who has just put the card on the table is going to touch it first.

Well, I don't know if I explained well, but I hope you got it.

Best wishes,

Selena

Anonymous · Answer

That's it, Christanford! By the way do you know if this game exists in the United States and what is its name, please?

Best wishes,

Selena

BarbaraPA · Answer

AnonymousHi, Khoff!

Thank you for helping me. By the way why is it wrong to say that "the cards are distributed upside down"? I mean what's the difference between upside down and face down?

And the correct way of writing the sentence above is: "The cards are distributed faced down"?

Thanks again,

Selena

Hi Selena,

Why don't you register? Then you'll be able to find your posts more easily and you won't have to wait for them to go through moderation.

Let's say you have a photograph of a person on the table in front of you and you turn it so that you are still looking at the photo, but the feet point up and the head is down, it is upside down. If you turn it over so you are looking at the back of the photo and can't see the image, it's face down.

And no, it's "face down," without the D.

Anonymous · Answer

Hello Grammar Geek,

Thank you for the invitation and explanation.

Best wishes,

Selena

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