#Nevile Gwynne explains the correct answers to our good grammar quiz.

INTERACTIVE: Can you pass the good grammar quiz?

1. Do you see who I see?

"Who I see" should be whom I see . This is because whom is the object in the subsidiary clause whom I see , and must therefore be in the accusative or objective case.

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3. "He had fewer men than in the previous campaign"

Fewer applies to quantity; less to size

This is nowhere near good enough.

4. Near is an adverb qualifying the adjective-phrase good enough .

5. "Enough" is an adverb qualifying the adjective "good".

6. Nowhere is an adverb qualifying the adverb near .

7. Come and sit near me.

"Near" is an preposition governing the pronoun me .

8 but don t sit too near."

"Near" is an adverb qualifying the word sit .

9. Both

Both. In the first one, "teaching" is a verb in the gerund, which is a verb being used as a noun. (In pedantically expanded form, the sentence could be with the teaching by me to you of grammar .) The noun teaching must therefore be preceded by a possessive pronoun rather than a personal pronoun. In the second one, me is correct if teaching is intended as present participle, a verb being used as an adjective and part of the description of me in that sentence.

10. First , secondly , thirdly ,

Contrary to what many leading authorities on English, (including Fowler) say, First , secondly , thirdly , in a list is traditionally correct and technically more perfect than Firstly , secondly , thirdly . This is because first is one of the relatively few adjectives which do not change their form when they become adverbs, unlike "second" and "third". Another such adjective is fast .

11. Male

The absence of a comma before "who doesn't" makes that clause part of the definition of Mark, my brother , implying that there are other brothers. A comma after the words my brother would mean that there was only one brother. (See correction, below)

12. Why might you take an intelligently thought-out decision to call your daughter Amanda-Miranda?

Amanda means she who is worthy to be, or ought to be loved and Miranda is she who is worthy to be loved, or ought to be admired. It is the nominative feminine singular of the gerundive mood imported direct from Latin. Other examples of the Latin gerundive mood being imported: addendum ( to be added -- nominative neuter singular), agenda ( things to be done -- nominative neuter plural), memorandum ( to be remembered ), and referendum ( to be referred -- both of them nominative neuter singular).

Corrections: Question 9 previously gave the first option as the correct answer, whereas both can be considered grammatically correct. The wording of question 11 previously suggested that both of the speaker's brothers were named Mark. Both have been modified in consultation with the author. For a full explanation see here .

ANALYSIS: If you don't know grammar, you can't write English

ANALYSIS: Good grammar does not involve speaking like a 1950s parody